LAWLIET: Beyond's House
by C. Holywell-Black
Summary: The final instalment in the LAWLIET trilogy. It's the final stand. It is no longer only L who believes he needs a successor. Whose side will you be on, and who will win?
1. Secret

_Oh yeah, I'm back! Didn't take very long, did it? Should I have built up the tension a bit more to make more people want to read...? No. I was looking forward to this too much. This is going to be the last story in the LAWLIET trilogy, I'm afraid. If you want any more LAWLIETs (aside from spin-offs 'Scorpios Can Be Murder' and, 'An Inquisitive Mind'), you're going to have to PM me to request them, because I have other fanfic ideas too (written up on my profile). I am actually loving this already... oh, sorry, you haven't read it yet. Don't want to spoil it. What are you waiting for? Go on! Read it!_

* * *

The dark room was filled to the brim; there was an undeniable tension that weighted the atmosphere. The audience decided to chatter amongst themselves, most likely in anticipation of what was to come. Surprisingly, nobody working at the hotel had come to wonder why there were around sixty-something people of varied ages and races all gathering together in a hotel room in Winchester.

Everybody, regardless of where they were in their conversations, went silent as a red-haired woman and a red-eyed man entered the room. The man took a seat at the front of the room, putting his feet up on another chair. The woman stood at the front beside him confidently, her expression one of somebody that did not have trouble giving orders – or having her orders followed. She scanned the crammed room, ignoring some of the audience's claustrophobia. The light of the room was pretty much violet, shaded by the curtains.

Finally, one of them spoke.

"Is everyone here?" The accusatory looks that flitted across her expression made most of the audience flinch. "Zero?"

The silver-haired boy in the front row raised his hand, wary.

"Eve Skeleter?" she called out.

A girl with curly hair she had deliberately dyed black waved once, face somber. It was nothing new. She always looked somber.

"Sky?"

A handsome young man closer to the back of the room mock-saluted, a smirk playing on his face.

"Nancy?"

A petite, pretty blonde girl standing beside the one named Sky lifted her hand, fluttering her fingers in some form of light, feminine, acknowledgeable wave. The woman examined the room again and scowled.

"_Where _is Rebel?" she demanded.

"T-the g-g-government," Zero stammered, shaking. "T-they got to h-her! We're next!"

"How unobservant you are," a cool, collected voice murmured from the back of the room.

Shrouded in darkness, a brown-haired eighteen-year-old girl leant back nonchalantly against the wall, arms folded and head lowered. She would not give her 'guardians' the privilege of seeing her face fully. All that was visible was the cold, careless smirk on her lips. Suddenly, her lips pulled back into a scarier smile, one that showed perfectly white teeth. She raised her head, taking a step into the light.

"I believe I know why you have called us all here," 'Rebel' stated icily. She had an American accent. "And we are aware of the risks; you have hammered them into us over the past two years."

"I don't care about the risks," the redhead countered. "It is the goal we are most concerned with. You of all people should know just how murder works, Rebel."

Rebel rolled her eyes.

"You're missing the _point_," the red-eyed man snapped. "We all know why we are here. We are here because at some time or another, we have been cast out as freaks by somebody, despite us being _stronger_, _faster, smarter, better-looking_ and all around _better _than our alternatives. Zero here we found with only a number for a name because he _apparently _suffered from paranoia – look at him now! He is one of the world's best tails, noticing everything around him!"

He looked around the room and pointed to a fair-haired girl. "Sandy, Mandy and Thandie all are discriminated against, treated as one individual, when all three possess unique skills. Still, it is said that Sandy, Mandy and Thandie suffer from dissociative identity disorder, or multiple personality disorder. We disagree. There are three personalities, therefore three people. Three people who consider all sides of a strategy before initiating it."

Sandy, Mandy and Thandie nodded in unison.

"Then there's Scarlett, told she is a nymphomaniac, when really all she has is a taste for promiscuity. And it is hardly a bad thing, is it, that she can keep people distracted for so long?" the red-eyed man shrugged. "Ponder that now as you consider the possibility of aiding us. If we achieve what we set out to achieve, there will be nobody left to take us down. Crime levels will shoot up again after a few nervous fluctuations and this time, _they _will be the freaks. M, explain the plan."

"You have each been assigned to one person you must focus on," M told them. "I would have said that there was one major threat in Wammy's House besides L, but she left years ago and is no longer an active detective. Basically, you older ones, your job is to infiltrate your person's life by any means necessary. And I do mean _any means necessary_."

"You want us to seduce them," Rebel said bluntly. "Original, I'll admit that."

"Thank you, Rebel, for never shutting your loud fucking mouth," M said sarcastically.

"Wa-ay!" laughed the others.

"You are so fucking immature," Rebel muttered.

"Well, it's lucky you so obviously are the most mature person in the room," M grinned, "considering who you have been assigned. You have been given the former number one successor of L. We haven't checked in for two years, but you can safely bet that he'll have crept back to the top again at some point. Slo, an abbreviated of 'Sophisticated Little One', now your age. Don't worry; you're not an acting pedophile."

"Halle-fucking-lujah," Rebel sighed. "Because I _always _enjoy wasting my time with stuck-up little British brats."

"Oh, wake up and smell Beyond's B.O.," Sky muttered. "At least you got somebody intelligent."

"You say that, rape-boy, but you've got an actual relative of L's," B teased. "So you can kiss my-"

"Her name's K, and she's fucking stubborn. She's L's sister's daughter, also a product of a mass murderer called Kira, so don't underestimate her," M warned. "Not the Fifth Kira, you dummy, the first one. She is, in my opinion, a frigid little bitch. Good luck, boy. She'll chew you up and spit you out."

"At least I'll be in her mouth," Sky commented off-handedly.

"Scarlett, you get somebody difficult, because I know you can do it," M told her sweetly. "You get some delightful little cherub called Mello. He's probably gay, so give it a shot and pray it works, 'kay?"

"Mm-hm."

"Night…"

"_Fear me!_" Night yelled from the third row. "_I am the son of Death!_"

"Yeah, okay, we're fucking shitting ourselves in fear," M grumbled. "Come on, man, we have business to attend to."

"Sorry."

"As I was saying before being so rudely and stupidly interrupted by the son of Death, you are going to be infiltrating the life – sorry, _death_ – of Io, Wammy's resident emo. You'll be able to pick her out easily. She's middle height, about five foot five, ridiculously pale, wears a hell of a lot of black eye makeup and looks like she stepped out of some really bad Victorian-gothic movie. She might be easy to manipulate. After all, for Slo's sixteenth we told all the girls he had fatal AIDS and she was the only one who offered to screw him. She's that suicidal," M pressed. "She just hasn't quite gotten round to killing herself yet."

"Mm-kay. Io. Got it."

"What about L?" Nancy called out.

"Why, you offering?" B cackled.

"No, he's Tanya's. He'll be a tricky nut to crack, I'm telling you, and Tanya's probably cracked a fair few nuts in her time. Hell, her middle name is probably Nutcracker. But this one… he gets a whole fucking level of his own. He loved a girl for seven years, never told her and let her walk out on him. The same girl hasn't spoken to him for two years, let alone see him. He's probably still pretty broken up about it. You know, normal people never really get over the whole 'true love leaving you' thing."

"Ouch," Sky laughed.  
"Good girl, getting out while she still could," remarked Nancy.

"Hang on," Rebel said sharply. "You said two years ago, she left. That would be the same time that C left Wammy's, right?"

"Finally, someone picked up on it," B said. "Nice job, Rebel. Yes, that would be around the time that C left. Yes, I know you've probably all seen the forums and stuff that implies L and C were having a relationship. The truth is they most likely wanted to, and neither of them had the guts to make the first move, so they just stopped working together and C hasn't really been mentioned in the news for quite a long time. She could have died and you wouldn't have known."

"Wait… C's a _woman_?" Tanya stared at him.

Rebel shook her head, puzzled. "Seriously, how are you even _here_?"

"Oh, I'm _sorry_," Tanya retorted. "We can't all be M's protégé."

"I see you have enough mathematical skills to deduce that much, since there is only one of M," Rebel sighed. Replying was probably just too much effort in itself. Putting any emphasis behind the words would be going overboard.

"Oh, leave your fucking domestics for outside," M barked at them. "If you're going to act like children, I'll bloody treat you like children!"

"Her fault," Tanya muttered under her breath.

"Can it, Blondie," Rebel shot back quietly.

"Let's move on, shall we? The plan will take action at precisely midday tomorrow… maybe a bit later if you guys feel like eating lunch early. We'll move in, and then we'll begin the ultimate process of breaking up everything around us. You know the protocol with relationships and seduction, people: break ties already established and then you can continue to form your own. Except don't get too attached. It'll be a pain in the ass if you turn against us."

"Not going to happen," Nancy giggled.

"Nope. No girl's getting to me," Sky agreed.

"I hate you anyway," Rebel shrugged.

"Excellent," M smiled.

"Wammy's has not got a chance," B sniggered.

**XXX**

In aforementioned house, the man named L Lawliet (known only to his closest friends, his single worst enemy and his remaining family) was typing up a new report for his latest case – finished just ten minutes ago. In that ten minutes, he'd consumed three cups of syrupy coffee and demolished a carrot cake from the local bakery. He felt full, but not full enough to get rid of the empty feeling under his ribcage.

L's successor, second in line, entered the room without knocking. He knew he didn't need to knock. They both knew secrets they would never be able to divulge with the outside world for fear that L's remaining family would be treated like some evil monster, something she was no longer. Slo was a good friend of K's, and ever since the Fifth Kira case two years previously, he had protected her with the ferocity of a big brother. Even if once he had harbored a crush on her, he was through with that stage. He was currently dating the ex-Wammy's girl Callie Wood five years his senior. It didn't make a huge difference to life at Wammy's. She wasn't a PSHE teacher or anything anymore. She just happened to live at Wammy's House, where she'd spent most of her childhood and teenage years.

Slo sat down next to L. Neither spoke for a moment.

"Have you talked to her yet?" he asked.

L took a deep breath. "No."

"Are you going to?" he pressed.

"No. She'll call when she's ready."

"You've been saying that for ages now, you know that?" Slo sighed. "Come on; she hasn't even picked up her Yamaha. For all you know she could be dead."

"Since when did you become so morbid?" L asked.

"Probably since K," Slo admitted. He ran his fingers through his hair. "She knows you love her, right? You did tell her?"

L knew he wasn't talking about K anymore.

"Of course."

"And still…?"

"Nothing."

"Damn. That's too bad. She did say she wanted independence, though. I suppose it's only to be expected that she stays away. She'll be all right, L. She always is. She survived seven years with you, didn't she?" he laughed.

"Barely. Poisoned, stabbed, blown up, cut by glass, handcuffed and attacked by Kira? I cannot say I am surprised she has not contacted me yet." He typed roughly one hundred and fifty words more into his report before he spoke again. "Still, you are correct. She will be fine."

"That's the right way of thinking, mate," Slo encouraged, standing up and patting L on the shoulder. "Who knows what the future holds? I think I feel a change in the air."

"A pleasant change, I hope."

"L… change is never pleasant. Humans fall into routine so easily it is hardly pleasant when something is altered so quickly." He glanced towards the door. "Don't worry. I'm sure she will be in contact."

"I don't know," L murmured. "Like you said, it has been a long time."

* * *

_See that little blue hyperlinked button down there that says 'review'? Click it and watch the magic unfurl!_

_C._


	2. Illuminated

She walked down the muddy pathway towards her sister's house, bidding her a friendly farewell. Kayleigh's husband Lee waved from the kitchen window. She began her retreat back to her own apartment, back through the forested area. In her ears she put iPod headphones, listening to 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen. She should have been in a good mood. She should have been cheerful about her situation… but she wasn't.

She was finally out on her own, independent. She'd done so well. She'd spent quite some time here, getting used to the feeling of being alone. Well, of course, she had family up the road, so she wasn't completely alone. She was lucky. She hadn't been attacked or anything because of her past. It had been fairly quiet. Obviously, she hadn't lost her curious, reckless instinct. You could take the girl from the detective, but you couldn't take the detective out of the girl.

She switched to 'Stay' by Hurts, a band she'd heard in a clothing store earlier that day when she was with her sister. She could remember the conversation, her twin enquiring about _Elliot_, how he was doing, whether she'd seen him.

Those two years ago, when she had finally identified exactly what that feeling inside had been, she'd run. How did she feel now? It was impossible to tell, say for hungry since she hadn't eaten yet this afternoon. Wow. It may actually be evening – it seemed to be getting darker earlier.

That's when a hand clamped down over her mouth and she knew it wasn't worth trying to scream. Her elbow swung up as 'She's So Lovely' by Scouting for Girls started on her iPod. She recognized the familiar feeling as bone connected with jaw, the cracking that ensued. When the man who'd grabbed her lashed out, attempting to catch her face with his fist, she used an upper rising block (age uki) to counter.

She missed this adrenaline rush: fighting for her life. It honestly felt fantastic to be releasing all of her strength, all of her frustration, on a live target. With her defending hand, she took hold of his wrist, twisting his arm so his hand faced palm up and applied heavy pressure to his elbow swiftly with her whole palm. The skin-crawling _snap _that she registered confirmed she had broken his arm. He cried out in agony and dropped to the ground, nursing his sore arm.

She removed one earphone from her left ear around the time 'Starstukk' by 3OH!3 and Katy Perry began. She crouched down in front of him, amused, and planted a steady hand on his spine.

"You have the right to remain silent. You do not need to say anything, however anything you do say may be referred to as something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say will be given in evidence," she sighed. With her free hand, she reached into the back pocket of her jeans, withdrawing a pair of handcuffs before closing them with a satisfactory _click _around his wrists. "You are being arrested for assault, attempted rape, the murders of Karen Lister, Jessica Parker, Edith Mallory and Rebecca Colson."

"I didn't do nothing!" the man protested.

"I will recount that as a probable confession, considering you have used double negatives. Intentional or no, you have just admitted to assault, attempted rape and quadruple murder."

"You can't prove that!"

"Oh, can't I?" she laughed. "That's odd. Did you know that iPods are multitasking miracles? It's true. You can listen to music whilst recording a video! Isn't that fantastic?"

The man stared at her, gobsmacked. "Are you a police officer?"

"No." She sighed and ruffled his hair, speaking in an undoubtedly patronizing tone. "I'm a doctor."

"You have no right to arrest me, then!" He appeared all too pleased with himself for uncovering her true occupation.

"Consider it a citizen's arrest," she told him sharply. "May not be quite as influential, but just as potent."

She hooked him around the back of his shirt's collar and dragged him, ignoring his protests, to a lamppost on a street corner. Rain began to pour down, striking her face and darkening her hair. She unlocked one of his wrists, only to attach him to the lamppost. His broken arm hung limply by his side. She didn't smile as she called the police anonymously and offered a tip as to where their suspect was. When asked for an identity, she hesitated before giving the name Ana Connelly.

"What now?" he asked.

"Well… it works like this. You go to prison. I disappear. I should go now, really. I am finished here." She looked out into the grey evening downpour. "It won't be long until the police come to pick up the trash. I shouldn't be here when they arrive."

With that, brushing away his angry cries for help, 'Ana Connelly' walked away, vanishing into the hazy, grey, sheeting rain.

**XXX**

Roger was sitting in his office, carefully observing the two adults in front of him, both of whom he knew he could not trust with tying his shoelace. He was rather old now, and _so _not qualified to deal with this sort of situation. He poured himself a glass of what looked like whisky but was actually Coke. He wasn't exactly allowed to drink on the job caring for under-eighteen-year-olds.

"So let me get this straight. You want _all _of the individuals that you have had live with you over the last two years to reside here, at Wammy's? There must be around one hundred of them, more than children who have been _chosen _to reside here!" Roger sighed.

"There are sixty-nine, not one hundred," B muttered. "And yes, that is our intention. We have travelled the world for the past two years and seen how young people are mistreated – not just in England, but globally. We wish for them to have the opportunities other youths have, and we realized we have the resources to give them those opportunities. Who do you think you are trying to deny these children, who have worked so hard to be where they are, a place, a _chance_, with a normal life, where they can be loved and cared for?"

B could have run for US president so impassioned was his speech. M was fairly close to applauding. She was impressed. Both she and Roger knew B possessed incredible manipulative skills, yet even Roger was leaning towards the possibility that he could be telling the truth. B's face was so sincere. Anyone who did not know him well would not dare doubt his purpose.

"I would have to consult with L, you understand," Roger pointed out.

"Of course. We would not expect anything less. He is, after all, the one who must be informed," B agreed, nodding. "We thank you on behalf of every single person out there who you are aiding in their time of most desperate need."

"Right," Roger said. He rose warily from his chair and left the room with M and B inside it. He returned moments later with L in tow.

It was safe to say he did not look impressed, or even pleased, at the two's sudden reappearance. He looked rather awful. Dark circles that had once merely been grey were solid black, and if he had been pale before, it was nothing to how he seemed now. It was as if he were naught but a ghost before them. Anyone could see he was more toned than before; he must have been relenting his stress on a punch-bag or completing some other form of exercise. It may simply have been that he was angry that made him appear so cold and unapproachable.

"This is not going to happen," he said icily. "You two have no clue as to what has been happening since you left Wammy's. You have no right to be here. Get out."

"So harsh," B murmured.

"You haven't even heard our proposal," M said.

"Roger has explained the principle of it, and I strongly disagree. Wammy's House was designed uniquely as an orphanage for gifted and precocious under-eighteen-year-olds that were exclusively chosen for their place in a line of successors," L explained in a monotone. "Your… gang… has not been selected to join Wammy's, therefore no answer can be given but 'no thank you, try again some other time'."

"How can you be so heartless?" M demanded, enraged. "You have no idea what these kids have been through!"

"I am certain that by your tone, it must have been something dreadful by any normal standards," L said. "However, Wammy's House does not accept students by how unbearable their life experiences have been."

"You're not even going to apologize?" she snapped.

"I see nothing for me to apologize for. The guidelines are perfectly clear, M. Have a nice day." He turned and made to walk out of the door when M spoke again, this time her tone more venomous.

"How's C?"

L did not turn around.

"I am sure she is very well. I would not wish bad things on her, as you most likely would not."

"She left, and she didn't even get in touch," M snarled. "Don't tell me that you haven't been thinking the same thing. She left Wammy's, she left me here on my own, she left _you_ without so much as a warning, and you still act as if she has no flaws."

The hand in L's pocket closed into a fist around the ring he'd been keeping there.

"She has flaws," he said. "I know that better than anybody."

"You don't act like it. You act like she's going to come back. Get this through your thick skull." She gritted her teeth. "She is _never_ coming back. If you said, 'I love you' a thousand times she would run as fast as hell in the other direction."

He turned to face M, eyes narrowed.

"Well, that is fortunate for me, then," he murmured, "because I only said it once."

"L!" yelled a voice. A tall, muscular, dark-haired boy with straight locks grown out to his shoulders messily ran into the office. He saw M and B and stepped back with shock. He was not conventionally good-looking; there was something slightly feminine about his features, if he was brutally honest (which he never was). He was the striking type that girls would go for if they wanted an intense look. His brown eyes widened. "M."

"Who are you?" she asked.  
"It's Damnation," he spluttered.

"_Dummy_?" she gasped. "Holy shit. You grew up. You actually… grew up."

"Damnation, what's the problem?" L asked.

"There's been an intrusion of the perimeter. We would have sent Athena and Checkmate straight out but this person managed to switch off the alarm a few seconds after triggering it. We've tracked them to the east wall by the dance studios. We should be able to stop them before they try anything," Damnation responded without hesitation.

"Listen to him!" M squealed. "He sounds all mature and official!"

"We'd better get going, then," L commented. "Roger, you and B stay here. Damnation, you come with me – bring Athena and Checkmate with you, and K if you can find her quickly. M, you may come if you wish, but you can't shoot anybody."

"Aw…"

Every single person that was permitted to search went out looking. When they reached the back of the main building, they saw the back of the intruder, sporting a black hooded jumper and a pair of jeans. The intruder held their hands up, hearing the click of safety being switched off on their guns, yet smart enough to not turn around. They laughed a little, causing a few confused expressions.

"Who are you?" L asked. "Reveal your identity and you will not be persecuted quite so harshly. You have trespassed on a private property-"

The figure turned around, lowering their hood.

C smiled out them all. "Honey, I'm home."

**XXX**

It was later in the evening. After the day's busy events, B and M's people had been offered some rooms to stay in for the night, and then they would have to leave in the morning if a decision that said otherwise was not made. A lamp had been switched on, the blue curtains drawn and the bag laid out beside the bed in L's room. He and C sat beside each other on the mattress.

"Help me to understand, C, because I am struggling," L sighed. "You decided to break into Wammy's House because…?"

"I always loved a good entrance, and it was an ideal time to see if the security system was able to withstand an intruder. It was well dealt with, I assure you. I was caught within… what? Four minutes? Even though I know Wammy's inside and out, I was still seized quickly. And you sounded very official," she told him. "Particularly formidable."

"I believed that you disliked aggression in most forms, especially violence or threats towards your wellbeing," L said. "You always admitted it made you feel patronized, as if your captors were speaking to a child rather than a grown woman."

She looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry I didn't contact you. When I arrived in Reading, my phone was bugged. I couldn't risk it. Any call or text message would have been traced."

"You left me wondering for a month. I tell you it is all right for you to solve this case on your own, to leave Wammy's for a short while, and you just disappear off the face of the Earth. I could not get you on CCTV. Have you been living as a hermit for the past four weeks?" he scolded. He ran his fingers through his hair. "I missed you."

"Don't think I didn't feel the same," she mumbled.

"I was worried."

"Like I said, I was going to call…"

"Sometimes, even if it is during an important case, it would be nice to receive a phone call from my wife," he agreed. "So let's compromise. If your phone is bugged, purchase another, keep it on your person at all times so nobody can get to it, and then call me with that. Is that all right with you?"

"That sounds reasonable," she said, resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you, you know."

"I love you too. And don't forget it."

He kissed her forehead affectionately.

"You know, C… I've been thinking about your coming-home present…"

"Yes?"

They smiled as L leant forward to switch off the light.

"Yep," C murmured. "I really did miss you."

* * *

_Okay, how many of you did I fool by making you think she'd left two years ago? Be honest..._

_These chapters are coming out so fast - let's hope they will continue to do so. If you like that idea, review! Reviews are my cookie rewards. Nom nom nom!_

_C._


	3. When I Grow Up

Matt leant back in his cushy chair. He hadn't been able to bring himself to speak to M. Both C and she had gone, but it was C who had come back. M had never come back until now. He needed some time to himself, just him and his games. It was approximately three o'clock in the morning, meaning nobody else would be up. He inserted a disc into his Xbox, waiting for it to load.

He heard a door close behind him and swiveled around to spot C walking past, rubbing her eyes. His room was between her old one and the current one she shared with L. There were doors connecting them, ones that hadn't been used since they were put in. She was wearing a pair of pajamas, clearly exhausted, as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Hey, Matt," she murmured nonchalantly. "How's life?"

"Aw, come on," he groaned. "I know you're married and all, but do you have to use those doors? I mean, by all means, keep the sex in your marriage and everything, don't lose it, but… damn. I really don't need you walking in and out. Are you going to be sleeping with L for all the time those kids are here?"

"I think I'll be sleeping in my old room for quite a while," she sighed.

"Where are you keeping your ring?"

"In a fake Jane Austen book on my shelf with our marriage certificate and suchlike," C muttered.

"I don't know how you do it," Matt admitted. "To be honest, I don't know why you don't just tell them the truth."

"Sweetie," she said, "someday, when you're married and have to hide your marriage from seventy-one people whose most important desire right now is to maim and kill you, you'll understand. For the present, however, I am going to go and get some sleep. Goodnight."

She disappeared through the other door that led to room thirteen, leaving Matt sitting there with a bewildered, shocked expression.

"…What?"

**XXX**

Later that morning, after breakfast, M and C decided to take a walk down to the gym where they could hear a basketball game going. The squeak of sports shoes against the shiny floor was loud – they did not doubt those in the main building would hear it.

The boys that played were mainly recognizable, most of them older. A stunning girl in shorts that showed long, pale legs was clinging to the side of the climbing frame. When she turned to face M, it was obvious who she was. She'd been there the previous day when they'd found C. K was beginning to look a lot more like her mother. Her hair was developing darker tints, and anyone could see that underneath the trademark Yagami bronze, some areas were turning black. If anything, she held onto the short style so that she wouldn't look too different.

Damnation had tied his hair back into a ponytail, passing the ball to Checkmate, now having fulfilled his potential of becoming what was a world-class fighter. Although Damnation now towered over him in height, Checkmate was broad-shouldered and what Jenna Atkins, the ex-Wammy's bank robber, always used to rank as 'hench'.

Romeo was as he had always been, a floppy-haired cutie. He couldn't be intimidating if he tried. He was about five feet nine inches, with brown hair that fell across one side of his face. Blue eyes gleamed, and it was evident from his lanky yet toned build that he was still the type he had been before: the one that preferred music to sport.

There was one whose name that M couldn't pinpoint. Everything about him exuded confidence. Around six foot three with a clear athletic figure, intelligent green eyes, short, messy blonde hair and chiseled features, he managed to steal the ball from Damnation. He sprinted full pelt at the hoop and completed a stylish slam-dunk.

"Damnation, come _on_!" K yelled. "You're getting your ass kicked out there!"

"Fuck off, K!" Damnation retorted. "You can't play for shit!"

"Get over here and say that!" she called out.

"_Fine_!" He jogged over to her and gripped her around the waist with both hands, pulling her off the climbing frame and lifting her over his shoulder.

"Get _off _me!" she squealed, hating that she was so ticklish. She punched his spine, still laughing weakly. "Get off! Let me _go_!"

"Poor choice of words," Damnation snickered, dropping her on the floor. He caught her in a headlock and gave her one of the world's most humiliating noogies. The boy M didn't recognize caught Damnation from behind, getting _him _in a headlock. Immediately, Damnation dropped her.

"I give!" he surrendered. "I give!"

"Who's the blonde one?" M asked C, smiling. "He's extraordinarily cute."

C doubled over laughing. "I will inform him you said so."

"What's so funny?"

"He'll love you for that," C sniggered. "That right there" – she gestured to him – "is Slo."

M gaped at her. "No." C grinned. "No, no, _no_, that can't be Slo. There is no possibility it is him. Slo would never be that… please don't tell him I said that."

"Yeah, yeah," C chuckled. "Slo! Get over here!"

"What is it?" The one she had identified as Slo wandered over, letting Damnation go. He tackled C in a hug. "Good to see you back, girl."

"You too. Look at you!" she said. "This time I'll stick to investigating with L."

"Thank God," Slo muttered. "He was worried as hell about you. Honestly, we knew you were coming back sometime. You can't stay away forever."

"Oh my God. Slo, you're all…" Her jaw dropped. "_No way_! You're _not _taller than me!"

"That's right, midget," he teased her. "Six foot three. I kick your butt. Actually, no, probably your head, since that's roughly where my foot is aligned with your height…"

M's angry retort was cut off by the door slamming behind them, a beautiful brown-haired girl storming in furiously. She folded her arms.

"So _this _is where you've been?" she snapped in an American accent. "Screwing around having a nostalgia trip? For God's sake, I was trying to find you, and you just… ugh. Never mind. B wanted to speak to you. He says it's urgent. I think it's regarding Zero finding a camera or something. You should calm him down."

"You should calm down; it's no big deal," Slo laughed. "I'm sure Beyond can deal with it himself."

"I wasn't talking to _you_," she spat. "Nobody asked your opinion."

"Slo," M warned, knowing the girl's violent tendencies.

"What is your problem?" Slo asked coolly. "I only gave you a handy piece of advice – you know, too much stress can lead to an early death…"

"I'll show _you _an early death," she growled. "You have a carrot lodged up your ass, you know that?"

"_You have a carrot lodged up your ass, you know that?"_

Slo's eyes widened, his jaw falling open. He could hear his heart leaping into his throat and swallowed, as if forcing it down. He managed to choke out one word.

"Ruby?"

"Rebel!" M scolded.

She hesitated, frowning for a second as the reality sank in. A suspicious expression was replaced by an astonished one.

"Sam?"

"Slo?" C checked.

Rebel's smile was blinding. She jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck as he swung her around. She was so impossibly elated it was hard to tell if this was the Rebel M had chosen for her protégé.

"How is he not dead?" M murmured. "She never does that to anybody… _ever_."

"You know each other?" C guessed.

"Only since we were five!" Slo exulted. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!"

"I live here!"

"You live _here_?" Her stomach felt as if it had dropped to the soles of her feet. Oh shit. He lived _here_. He wasn't a Beyond's kid. He was a Wammy's kid. And the Beyond's kids were trying to… oh no. The smile vanished from her face. "Please tell me you're not serious."

"Perfectly serious," Slo said. "I'm number two." He frowned. "Ruby, is there something you're not-?"

"Rebel," she corrected him. "I'm Rebel now. Just like you're…" Realization hit her like a speeding truck. "You're Slo. _You're _Slo."

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'm Slo. Ru – sorry, Rebel – are you okay?"

She glanced once at M, bowing her head. "I'm fine. I suppose… it's just a little overwhelming is all. I haven't seen you for twelve years. A lot has changed."

"Not _too _much, I hope," Slo replied cheerfully. "Do you want to join in the game?"

He gestured openly at the basketball court within the gym. He lowered his hands when she shook her head.

"I appreciate the offer, but I have some things I should be doing. Maybe I'll meet up with you for lunch?" she suggested.

"You know, you could always just watch the game with K," he pointed out. "You don't have to actually play."

"Yeah, I know," she admitted. "I'm really busy just getting to know Wammy's. I'll see you around, Sam. Slo. I… I mean Slo. Sorry."

Just as she was about to walk out, she felt a hand on her arm. "You need a guide?"

She considered for a second. "That'd be nice. Thank you."

The two of them left, leaving everyone else exhaling with a low whistle.

"I hope Callie's all right with this," Romeo murmured from the court. "Game's off, boys. We'll just go back to kicking K's butt."

"Don't you bloody _dare_, Romeo!" she snapped as he tackled her. "Oh, _come on_!"

"Need a hand dealing with the tyrant?" Damnation taunted. He took hold of her legs whilst Romeo took her wrists. "You haven't got Slo to help you out this time, little girlie."

"Two on one," Checkmate called out lazily from the side. "Two on one…"

"Damnation, you son of a bitch, I am going to break your fucking _legs_!" K threatened. "I swear I'll-"

C smiled nervously at M. "She's just one of the lads."

"Yeah," M agreed. "She always was a bit butch. Tough cookies to any guy who tries to date her."

**XXX**

K returned to her room, fairly pleased she had managed to get Damnation to submit after the boys had chucked her in the pond. They were lucky it was spring and not winter, or she would actually have killed them. Romeo wasn't particularly strong, but he was a fast runner even for K, and managed to evade her. Dear little Dummy wasn't quite so lucky. She'd kneed him in the groin and shoved him into a tree. Soaking wet, even after removing her top, she reached under her bed for a pair of jeans she'd thrown pointlessly under there the day before.

Something grabbed her ankle, and she couldn't help but scream.

With her other foot, she stamped on the wrist, meaning they let go immediately, and hurriedly, she retreated to her closet, where she hid a lamp that didn't work anymore. She always promised herself if there was ever an intruder in her room, she'd beat them with it. That time was now.

From under the bed, a pair of blue Converses poked out. They looked like ones that Leo owned.

"Leo, I swear to God that is _so _not funny!" she hissed. "Get out from under there! I can see your shoes; I know it's you!"

"K!" C said, running into the room and closing the door behind her. "What's going on? I heard you screaming."

"Leo's just playing some prank hiding under my bed," she growled. "He grabbed my ankle thinking it would be funny."

C folded her arms. "Leo, come out from under K's bed. This is careering well towards you doing the laundry for a week. Three, two, one-"

"What'sgoingon?" M gasped for breath, barraging through the door. "Anybody dead?"

"No, it's Leo under K's bed. Leo, who is now doing the laundry for a week. Good job there, sonny, I bet it was worth it," C sighed sarcastically. "Now get out."

M's eyes widened at the sight of the shoes. "Uh…"

"What?" K asked.

"I don't think that's Leo," M said gingerly (no pun intended). "Those shoes also belong to one of ours."

"Get him out," C told her sharply. "Or _I _will."

"Sky, get out here _now_," M hissed. He didn't move, so she grabbed his ankle and yanked it. "I said _out_!"

"Ouch!" he yelped.

'Sky' was just the sort K didn't get along with. Tall, gorgeous, arrogant and cocky, this boy screamed 'perfect'. With black hair that looked like he'd woken up perfect, chiseled features on a not-too-tanned face and daring blue eyes, he was clearly not the type K would even want to talk to. He grinned at the two other females in the room and folded his arms.

"Aw, you didn't need to take off your shirt for me," he teased, causing K to wrap her arms around herself protectively.

"You _bastard_," K shouted. "You are so _dead_!"

"Going to _punish _me, are you?" he chuckled. "I don't think I'd mind."

"Really, move it, Sky," M ordered. "You're even getting on _my _nerves."

Sky nodded politely to her. "Of course, my lady," he joked. He turned to look at K, bowing to her. "Until we meet a-"

He was abruptly cut off by K kneeing him in the face, arms folded. She watched him recoil and raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"I wouldn't piss me off," she advised. "I really, _really _wouldn't."

M led the boy out to check she hadn't broken his nose and C smiled proudly at her niece and goddaughter.

"Good girl," she chuckled.

"I learned from the best."

**XXX**

Slo, Damnation, Romeo and Checkmate listened to K's account of the weirdo who'd taken it upon himself to hide under her bed. They laughed raucously at the results of the event, that she'd kicked him in the face. They knew better than this 'Sky': nobody messed with their number one unless they had more than one person on their side. Or they had a Taser.

"What a moron," Slo laughed, clutching his sides. "Stupid boy."

"We're not going to fall for anything they throw at us," Checkmate assured her. "We're better than that."

Suddenly, the door to the canteen opened and in walked four girls, only one of which they'd seen before. Rebel entered, flanked by a petite blonde, a dark-haired beauty and a girl with sandy-colored hair. It was as if they had a wind machine blowing their hair back as they walked and all of them wandered off to their own table. All of the boys' jaws dropped. Rebel winked at Slo, the blonde one completing a fantastic hair flip.

K looked between all of them, folding her arms. "You guys are _so _predictable," she sighed. "Being won over by a freakin' hair flip…" She touched the back of her own hair self-consciously.

Rebel and the blonde got up from their table walking over to some of the older Wammy's kids. The blonde one was wearing a tiny, airy white dress whilst Rebel sported a red cami top and a pair of small denim shorts. Both wore skyscraper stilettos. Slo smiled nervously.

"Hey," Rebel said flirtatiously. "Hi, Slo." She looked around all of them. "Checkmate, Romeo, Damnation and K, right?"

"Yeah, that's it," Romeo grinned.

"Cool," the blonde interjected. She sounded French. "I'm Nancy."

"Hi, Nancy," they all chorused as if they were in an AA meeting.

Nancy waved at them. "I feel like I should be hanging out with you guys more often, since that nice yellow hair woman said we are able to stay-"

"No," Damnation said bluntly, remembering he had to be careful. "We don't want you here."

Nancy's baby blues fluttered in shock, pink lips parting as her breath exhaled in one tiny _whoosh_. "W-why?" she mumbled. She fanned herself, tears filling her eyes.

Oh crap. He'd made her _cry._

"Damn," Slo whispered, "you don't do that to girls. Not good."

"Oh my _God_," the dark-haired one on the other table cried, rushing over. "It's okay, Nance." She shot Damnation an angry look. "What did you _do _to her?"

"I didn't do anything!" Damnation protested. "Oh, come _on_!"

"Flora, we'd better take Nancy back to Rachel," Rebel commented sharply. "I guess we won't be spending so much time with each other, Slo. See you around."

Once the girls had all retreated back to their own table, K stood up. "I'll see you guys in fifth period. I have some stuff to deal with, besides the fact all of you are so unbelievably shallow…"

She stood up, walked towards the door and glancing back to roll her eyes at her friends, walked directly into something that felt like she was walking into rock-hard cement. She looked up to see the boy who'd been in her room, Sky.

"So you covered up again, huh?" he teased.

"Your face looks better," she reminded him. He didn't even wince.

"I don't know why you hide it," he grinned.

"Maybe because I don't need to hide under beds to get someone's attention," she retorted. "What are you, a rapist?"

"You have no idea," he smirked. "You have a little something there." He gestured to a spot by his own mouth.

"I can handle it," she shot back, going slightly pink as she moved to wipe it away.

"It's all right," he murmured. "I can get it for you."

Before she could even protest, he fitted her face into one of his hands and moved his own face particularly close to hers. His tongue darted out to remove the offending remainder of chocolate from her skin. After he was done, he remained holding her chin in his fingers for a few moments before releasing her. She rubbed the back of her hand against the place his tongue had touched, feeling more than a little sick.

"You're disgusting," she told him, turning back to go sit with her friends. She'd totally forgotten what she was going to do, and now she couldn't care less. She hated him. She detested every fiber of his being. All of the boys were trying very hard not to laugh. "_Not a word_," she threatened.

"Nope," Damnation sniggered. "Nothing. Except you just got-"

"At least I didn't make a girl cry," she hissed.

"This…" Romeo began softly, "is going to be incredibly interesting."


	4. Letters From The Sky

_I was shocked and pleased that by my story traffic, I have had approximately 1,170 readers in the USA alone this month (totaling about 2,700 globally)! O_o I never thought I'd even get past 50! A huge thank you to all and if you like my stuff, just say. It's pretty awesome, plus I get to get into contact with reviewers too! Ha, my family says, 'you know you've got it big when you've conquered the US'. Fingers crossed, huh?_

_Okay, so I went to this writing workshop with M on Saturday 23 October this year, and we thought it would be pretty cool, with a published author there and everything. We got a bit bored until she mentioned that we should try writing fanfiction. She asked if any of us did, we both admitted to it and she was like, 'oh, good to hear, you may have a chance of publishing'. If there is ever anyone who goes to a place and sees a blonde and redhead with the nametags 'C' and 'M' you've most likely got us pinpointed. But no stalking. Stalking is bad. Have you ever seen the lawsuits that come from stalking? Ew._

_Wow, I've been gabbling a lot. Enjoy the chapter and remember: DON'T DO DRUGS. Unless it's caffeine or alcohol. Then go nuts._

_C._

* * *

Sky stormed into the room, collapsing onto his bed dramatically. Rebel sat by the window, Nancy on the sofa. The two girls sniggered a little at his silliness. Rebel got up to go sit next to him, poking him in the stomach.

"You're such a little drama queen," she chastised him. "What's wrong with you, then, Sky-boy?"

"I'm B's _protégé_," he growled. "I should not be subjected to that sort of fucking humiliation! That stupid number one girl – I hate her! How am I supposed to actually like a girl that hates my fucking guts? She pisses me off _so bad_!"

He sat up sharply and for a moment it seemed his eyes flashed red. This was his dangerous side, the side that could break someone into tiny little fragmented pieces or fire someone up to the point that they would be on their knees. It was obvious why he out of all the older guys had been chosen to be Beyond Birthday's successor.

Rebel smirked. If K wanted to stay alive, she would stay out of Sky's way or give into his whims.

"Now, now, Sky," she encouraged coolly, "you're the rapist. You can deal with one unwilling little girl."

"Unwilling, yes, but not such a challenge," he shot back. "I hate her."

"Really?" Rebel chuckled icily. "K seems just your type: fiery, good-looking, curvy yet slender and with fucking long legs…"

"_So _not worth it!" he snapped. "She's high maintenance."

"Then I guess you had better just work a little harder," Nancy called out. "Hadn't you, Sky? Or are you just a _lâche pathétique_?"

"Says you, who pretended to _cry_," he snarled.

Rebel frowned. Nancy should have known better than to anger Sky when he was already in this sort of mood. She shook her head at the blonde from the south of France. She sat back on the bed, leaning against the wall. Her arms folded themselves automatically. She spaced out for about ten minutes while Nancy and Sky came up with some plans. That's roughly when she realized Sky was snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"How's it going with you, Rebel?" Sky asked. "You and your childhood buddy?"

"Would you like me to give you a plane ticket back to Washington, Sky?" she spat. "That can be arranged."

M's and B's protégés glared at each for a moment before Sky's eyes widened, a slightly manic smile spreading across his face.

"You don't want the plan to go ahead," he laughed. He coughed and made his laugh a tiny bit more hysterical. He got up from the bed and backed towards the door with a tilt of his head one hundred and eighty degrees. "You're worrying about number two's involvement."

"His. Name. Is. Slo," Rebel said through gritted teeth. "Don't think just because you're on our side I won't kill you. There are plenty more boys after you who want to be Beyond's next-in-line, and they probably won't make the suicidal mistake of annoying me."

"Go on then," Sky dared her. "Kill me."

"Don't think I won't."

"I wouldn't dare," he sneered. "Go ahead. Give it your best shot."

She glared at him, then tried to duck past him. He hooked his arm around her waist and grabbed her wrist with one hand.

"Don't get attached," he warned her. "That's exactly what they want. They're trying to break us up."

"I wouldn't be that stupid," she told him. She scraped her nails down the wrist that held onto her arm and shot him a look that would halt global warming in its tracks. "Go walk it off."

Sky's fist clenched. "This isn't over."

"Of course not. I'm going to do my job."

Once she'd left, Nancy bit her lip. Rebel had been the first to join M and B, in Los Angeles. She'd been there ever since anyone could remember. Nobody messed with her. Nobody even wanted to think it. If they lost Rebel, they lost one of their strongest, most fearless assets. Things had suddenly become extraordinarily risky.

**XXX**

Slo studied the photograph for the first time in months. He smiled at the thought that she had found him eventually, even with the whole 'gun-as-a-present' problem and the 'Beyond Birthday entourage' thing. It had been twelve years since he had last seen her. In twelve years, he had changed. She had very visibly changed. Thinking of that, he choked out a quiet laugh. He'd have to remind her of that.

There was a knock on his door.

"It's open," he responded.

Rebel entered cautiously, checking nobody else was there before she went to go sit down beside Slo. She glanced at him wordlessly.

"Was there something you wanted to ask?"

She closed her eyes, scowling. "Did you ever realize why I never wanted to go home after spending time with you in San Francisco?"

This was not the question he had been expecting. "What?"

"You didn't understand. We were so young. We should never have to deal with that sort of thing so young…" She bowed her head. "And I hated them. Every single time I tried to fight back, my mother just stood by and watched…"

"Ruby?"

"You never met my father, Slo. Allow me to explain."

**XXX**

"_I should go home now," Sam commented, rising from his place on the roof. "My mommy will be looking for me. It's getting dark."_

"_Can't you stay a little longer?" Ruby pleaded. She reached out for his hand. "It's not that dark. And you don't live that far away. I'm sure your mommy won't worry too bad."_

"_No, I'm really sorry," he replied, giving her hand a squeeze. "Mommy freaks if I'm not back by nighttime."_

"_Oh…" she sighed. "Okay. Go on."_

_It was half an hour after her best friend had left that six-year-old Ruby got up from the roof and made her way home to the apartment not far from Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco. She could hear the rowdy crowds of people that gathered on Saturday nights to check out the stuff that went on. She took a breath as she walked, weaving in and out amongst the throngs of tourists and locals. The strong smell of clam chowder and sourdough hung in the stale air._

_Ruby's nose wrinkled at the thick odor of beer as she squeezed past the people collected by the cable car station. She narrowly avoided the cars and eventually reached the block of apartments in which she resided. The elevator was broken and reeked of urine, so she took the stairs to the fifth floor. She prepared herself for the onslaught as she walked into her junk-filled front room._

_Her mom, Summer, was lounging across the faux-leather couch with an ice-pack on her forehead. Oh. So he'd started already. She thought she'd manage to sneak past without a sound. Who was she trying to kid? The floorboards squeaked like nobody's business, and if Summer thought she'd been trying to get past without getting in trouble, all hell would be let loose._

_People didn't like to think nasty stuff went on in the neighborhood. They liked to think it was all safe, all calm and distant. People had a really bad habit of lying to themselves. Ruby tried very hard to face the facts. And that was what had turned her into a sociopath aged six years old._

_On her way to the kitchen, her path was blocked by her father Terry Callahan._

"_Where do you think you've been, young lady?" he demanded of her. "It's very, very late!"_

"_I was out, Daddy," Ruby told him. "I was-"_

"_Hanging around with boys, I expect," her father growled. "I'm not surprised. After all, you're a whore, just like your mother." He called out to his wife sprawled on the couch. "What are you, Summer?"_

"_A… a whore," Summer moaned into the armrest._

"_Daddy, don't," Ruby warned. She didn't beg. All those times it had happened before, she had heard Summer crying out so many 'pleases' and 'don'ts'. She was not her mother. She was a volcano against her father's hurricane. She would fight back. She had remained dormant all these years. And ultimately, she would burn; it was written in her destiny long before she met M or Beyond. Rage was building._

"_Did I hear you rightly?" he snapped. "Did you tell me what to do?"_

"_Yes," Ruby seethed. "Yes, I did."_

"_No," Summer sobbed, still not getting up. "Darling, Terry, she's just a child…"_

"_She's a fucking psycho is what she is," he barked. "Go to bed, bitch."_

"_Terry-"_

"_I _said_ go to bed, bitch!"_

_She staggered towards their room, knowing what was coming. Ruby saw the purple contusions on her mother's cheek and knew precisely what was going to happen. So she did what always did. She ran. It didn't work. Her father had her by the collar of her shirt and dragged her back roughly. Ruby's younger sister, Chloe, watched from the sidelines, weeping openly. Foolish, considering he hated any form of crying._

_Ruby screamed. She lashed out, screamed, kicked, bit and spat all she could, to no avail. An hour later, her family was all asleep while she washed away the blood and bodily fluid from her mouth with anti-bacterial handwash. It left a vile taste in her mouth but nothing as horrible as what had been there before. She stuck her fingers down her throat to get rid of any traces of what might be left and went to sit in her living room in the dark._

_She wanted out. She wanted it so much it hurt; it hurt more than anything her ghastly father could inflict upon her. She did not cry. She trembled, though, so cold that the chills racked her fragile body. She had made her decision. She would get Sam to help her after she had done what she needed._

_She went to the kitchen and took the knife from there. Her father bled first, then her mother, and then she went to three-year-old Chloe's room and gave her hand a pat._

"_He won't hurt you anymore," she promised. "I'll be the best big sister ever."_

_And with that, she drew the knife across her sleeping sister's throat._

_In the morning, Ruby's older brother Tony entered the apartment to find a shaking, blood-drenched little girl sitting in the middle of the floor. She had the knife in her hand. It was hard to tell where her hair ended and the blood pool began. She was staring at this invisible monster about ten feet away from her. When she heard Tony come in, she looked up sadly._

_His eyes were wide with shock and horror. "Ruby," he gasped, "what have you done?"_

"_Ssh," she murmured, a blank expression on her face. "Mommy and Daddy are sleeping."_

"_Oh no," he breathed. "Please tell me you didn't. Ruby…"_

"_Daddy doesn't like noise," she whispered. "Ssh."_

"_Where's Chloe?" he realized, horror-struck._

"_Chloe's safe now," Ruby said slowly. "Daddy won't hurt Chloe again. Or Mommy. Or me."_

_Tony clapped a hand to his mouth. He glanced at his little sister, sodden with the crimson of his family. The three that mattered. He glanced tearfully out into the corridor and scooped the girl into his arms, fleeing from the apartment._

"_Nobody's going to hurt you again, Ruby," he mumbled thickly in her ear. "I promise."_

**XXX**

Sky stormed through the House grounds, majorly pissed. He reached the gardens and pressed his forehead against a tree trunk, counting his breaths. At twenty-six, he picked up a stone from the base of the tree and threw it with all the force he could manage at a wire fence on the edge of the gardens. The stone got tangled in the wire. He felt like he would choke in the wire himself.

Finally, he turned back, watching as some of the girls jogged past as part of the Athletics club for a warm-up. All of them waved cheerfully at him, trying to get his attention. As pretty as some of them were, they did not interest him. They were _boring_. He kept walking on, trying to process everything. When he reached the dance studios, he stopped, hearing the music from inside. He recognized it as 'Touchin' On My' by 3OH!3. He peered through the window on the door and his jaw almost dislocated from his skull.

K.

Wait.

_What?_

Okay, so he'd seen women dance like that on rap videos. He'd never seen it properly, especially not with actual dance moves in there similar to a street style, or such class. It wasn't just an attractive girl dancing like a ho. It was a serious performance with some honest-to-God sex appeal. Sky fleetingly remembered some of the other older Wammy's girls mentioning a Dance project they had for the next day. When the song was over and she'd stopped dancing, he could hear K breathing from his place on the other side of the door.

He saw the Greek-looking girl he'd seen in the corridors once or twice, Athena, get up from one of the benches in the dance studios and go to talk to K. They talked in murmurs for a while and then it was Athena's turn to practice.

Sky lost interest, turned to walk back to the main building and thought long and hard about his hatred for L's successor.

L's successor against Beyond Birthday's.

What an apt fight.


	5. A Dangerous Mind

Slo wrapped his arms around the sociopath, blaming himself whole-heartedly for not noticing that she was being physically and sexually abused by her father at some point before she'd killed nearly all her family. He did what he remembered his mother doing to him; it had always calmed him when she stroked his hair. So he did just that. After a while, her breathing slowed and she rested her head on his shoulder calmly.

It was hard to process. He needed to remind himself: _she'd been driven to it, provoked, forced into it, last resort…_ When all his mind screamed at him was: _Fucking run now!_ But if he ran, what sort of a friend would he be? He had to get his mind off of the subject or the thin wire than tethered his rationality and sanity together would simply snap.

"You know what I remember?" he asked.  
"What?"

"Your hair," he mumbled. "You changed it. It used to be auburn. It's brown now."

"Hair color changes as you get older," she defended herself. "My hair went brown."

"You liar," he teased. "You dyed it! What was wrong with it before?"

"I didn't like it," she admitted.

"It wasn't even properly ginger, you know, more reddish-brown than ginger," he told her.

"Fuck off," she whispered.

"All right," he sighed, standing up. She grabbed his arm.  
"I was kidding, but thanks for listening."

"Is it me," he asked, "or are you getting déjà vu?"

"Ugh," she muttered. She looked around the room. "What is it with this place? Everywhere I go, it's like there's ghosts, or everybody knows everything about everyone."

Slo remember what Jenna Atkins had said to him two years ago. "Every Wammy's kid leaves their mark," he murmured. "They all leave behind their legacy. This place gets into your head, under your skin. When I leave, there will be a part of me here because this is where I've spent most of my life. I spent the best – and worst – years of my life here so far."

"People just leave stuff behind? Where do they go?"

"Some move, get adopted – or die. When I arrived, there were still books on the shelves that nobody had had the heart to move. There were classics, a fairytale book, an encyclopedia and…" He paused to think. "There was a set of Sherlock Holmes there as well, which I read my first night."

"The night my family died."

"Yeah." He swallowed. "The night your family 'died'."

**XXX**

C was typing into her laptop, studying the lists of unsolved cases that federations had put up. The rape-murder case from Reading had been deleted, she noticed, from the history, due to a tip-off from 'a local doctor'. She read the nicknames of the cases from the media. She highlighted, copied and pasted the headlines she believed L would be interested in and emailed them to him. After that, she shut down her laptop, left her desk and went to prepare for her next Criminal Psychology lesson on the whiteboard.

There was a shy knock at the door.

"K," C said brightly, "come on in. Would you like a seat?"

"No, I'm good," K muttered. "I'll stand."

C picked up on K's sober tone immediately. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried," she admitted. "I don't trust these new guys, suddenly coming back after all this time. Some of them just give me the creeps. I don't know… I might just be acting paranoid, but I get the feeling that they're here for their own means – and those means are not good."

Her godmother wrote a few more words on the board before turning back to face her.

"You knew already, didn't you?" K realized. "You knew they were up to no good, but you let them in here anyway. If it's a long con, I don't get it yet. I know that deception in the long run is one of L's favourite tricks-"

"And it usually works, K."

"Still!" she said nervously. "I don't know who's my friend and who's my enemy, and they've only been here a day or so. You came back and I felt a little better, yet now…"

"I understand. I'll talk to M."

"No, please. I don't like not being able to trust people. Having someone in my room is only making things worse." K gritted her teeth. "If that guy approaches me again, do I have your permission to break his nose?"

"Yes, you do."

"What about L's permission?"

"Sweetie, if you break the nose of a boy that's hitting on you constantly, I think your uncle would be all for it."

K chuckled. "He would be sitting on the sidelines waving a banner and calling out advice, wouldn't he?" She sighed. "I'll see you around, C. Just… be careful, okay? I don't want another member of my family to die."

She left the room, heading towards the library when she brushed past a small girl with hair dyed black. She mumbled a quick 'sorry' until she felt the little teenager grab hold of her wrist tightly. K turned back to pull her arm away futilely. The girl's eyes were wide, black and fixated on this spot on the wall.

"Oh my God," K said, beginning to panic. "Let go, kid!"

"You push him," the girl murmured in a monotone. "He falls, he clings to life, he crawls back towards you, he… oh. His heart beats so fast. His heart stops. You watch him go down. You don't help. You never help. He calls for you. Water fills his body. He drowns…"

"_Let go of me_!" K gasped. "What are you _talking _about?"

"Die, die, die…" the girl whispered. "You murder him…"

"What?" she hissed. "Who the hell are you? Get of off me!"

"The rest is silence," the girl mumbled. "He dies…"

"Let go of me!" K panicked, truly frightened now. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You let him die a _virgin_," the girl said, horrified. "You _bitch_."

"Yeah, you bitch," a terribly familiar voice said.

K turned her head to see Sky standing there scowling at her. He read her scared expression easily; he'd seen it so many times with his own victims. She tried to yank her wrist away again.

"You murdered him," the girl repeated. "Cold-blooded murder…"

"What?" Sky's eyes widened.

"Who is this kid?" K demanded. "Make her let go!"

"I can't make her let go until what she sees is done," Sky said, shocked. "She sees something with you, clearly." Then he asked a question she had never expected. "Have you ever seen someone die?"

"I… I don't think so," K admitted. "I don't remember…"

"Eve must see what you don't remember."

"Eve?"

"Eve Skeleter," Sky said, nodding to the girl clinging to K's arm. "It's always been that whenever she touches someone for the first time that has witnessed a death, she experiences the person's – or people's – deaths."

"She might be wrong."

"No. Eve is never wrong." He smirked at her. "This has just gotten very interesting, K."

K frowned at him. "I don't see how."

Eve Skeleter eventually let go of K's wrist before backing away from her and running into the direction of the playing field exit. K watched her run, feeling sick and confused. When she turned back toward the library, Sky had gone.

That was when she realized she'd forgotten to break his nose.

Shit.

**XXX**

L placed the folder on C's desk in front of her. She looked up at him and smiled.

"You've chosen one?" He nodded. "Finally."

"It gives us a chance to get out for a little while too. Look at where the murders are being committed."

"Oh, stop it. You'll ruin the surprise." She opened the file and began to read through it. "Okay, so we have three murders – odd, you usually go for ones with a much higher kill rate than that." She read the next paragraph. "Oh, now I see why you chose it. There seems to be no pattern, no connections say for the fact they were all murdered in the same city within two weeks. There is no specific motive, but all the victims so far are female. Kristin Buckley, aged twelve from a middle class family – strangled and partially cannibalized. Ella Dockery, aged twenty-two, daughter of a wealthy businessman – strangled and possibly raped. Deanne Hounsfield, aged sixteen, parents divorced – poisoned and stabbed…"

"I was surprised that they included Deanne Hounsfield as a victim of the same killer, considering that she did not die of strangulation, but it makes sense considering that Ella and Deanne were killed within a day of each other."

"Conventionally, serial killers don't know how they want to kill the first time. Have we checked for previous in this area or maybe a mile or two outside of the city?" C asked.

"Of course. Woman stabbed on the dock of the bay in Sausalito a week before Kristin Buckley's death."

"I see. Any purpose?"

"Experimentation, like you said. I think Otis Redding would be a little disappointed that a murder has covered up the fact he wrote a song there now," L muttered. "Ah, well. At least it provides us with some entertainment."

"We're investigating together again?" she grinned.

"It seems we are. We always work best as a team, after all."

"We're going to California?"

"Yes."

"Right. So are we taking a few of the Wammy's kids with us?"

"For any undercover work, it would be best if we took the older ones who could work in pairs. They should be approximately the same age group. On the plane, we shall say they are students on some sort on a class trip. It would not be completely inaccurate."

"Mm-hm." She smiled at him. "So which ones are we taking?"

"I have a few names already picked out, since you are so keen to involve _everyone _recently…"

**XXX  
**Rebel glanced over at the table where Callie and Slo were chatting affectionately next to Damnation, Romeo, Checkmate and Athena. She was seriously annoyed; _Slo _had a steady girlfriend. That was a bad joke with a punch line she did not like at all. She looked back at her spaghetti and decided to leave it. She wasn't particularly hungry and she wanted to talk to M anyway.

K entered the canteen at the same time that Rebel left. She met Sky's eyes but said nothing. She simply glared at him. She was the first one to break eye contact, though. Damnation nudged her.

"Were you staring at that Sky?" he asked, grinning.

"Mind your own fucking business, Damnation. Don't look back at – oh, for God's sake…"

"He's still looking at you."

"Well, he's a bloody pervert then, isn't he? Staring at someone across a canteen after they've stopped looking at you is _not _cool. It is _not _friendly. And it is _not _a freebie for your stupid friends to look back at someone you very obviously don't like!" she hissed. She elbowed Damnation forcefully. "Stop staring at him, you idiot!"

"I think he likes you."

"I don't fucking like _him_. Stuck-up prick."

"You're very defensive about this, aren't you?"

"Damn, stop taunting her unless you want that fork shoved up somewhere the sun doesn't shine," Romeo warned. "If she says she doesn't like the creep who sneaked into her room, then good for her. The girl has sense. I only wish that people could understand this like K has: the 'instant connection in a gaze thing' is actually bullcrap. What it actually means is you've got something on your face."

K hastily wiped her mouth. She tried to do it subtly and failed. Damnation cracked up laughing.  
"Don't worry, K. You can always get Sky to lick it off for you."

She shoved him and stood up. "I don't know why I even hang out with you guys sometimes."

"Oh, come on, K, come back; he didn't mean it," Romeo sighed. "He's just a bit of a dick is all!"

"_Now _who's a dick?" Damnation snapped.

"Nice one, Damnation," Romeo muttered. "You did a very good job there. Now piss off and apologize to her."

"That's so unfair!" Damnation whined. "How come she gets away with being rude to me but the minute I'm rude to her everyone's all up in arms about it? Fuck."

"Because you're a bit of an asshole. Go say sorry."

"Ugh," Damnation grumbled. "_Fine._ It's on your tabs, though."

"No, it's not," Checkmate backed him up. "It's on yours."

Damnation stormed off to go find K, Sky watching him in amusement. Checkmate leaned across the table and tapped Romeo on the shoulder.

"That is why dear old Dummy hasn't got a girlfriend."

* * *

_If you haven't noticed already, the chapters are being named by the song I listened to whilst writing most of the chapter. In addition, there is a poll up on my profile that asks you lot which pairing you like best in 'Beyond's House'. If you like any pairings not mentioned in the poll, just suggest them in your reviews! Cool beans. Thanks._

_C._


	6. That's Not My Name

K looked back through the old Kira case files, studying every word, reading every single note that was scribbled haphazardly in the margins, looking at all of the possibilities. When she got to the page that explained about Hamlet's death, she stopped, reading it through. He'd fallen from the pier not far from Wammy's, then suffered a heart attack in the water.

She might not have thought of him so quickly had it not been for Eve's quotation from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet's' death scene. 'The rest is silence'. How could she not recognize it? That was a sentence that had been read out at his funeral by his brother, Romeo. She felt a little sick going through the case files. This was from a time she couldn't remember. Slo had always assured her she'd done her best with Hamlet.

Right where Kira's killings stopped her memories started. If Kira was caught, shot dead by police as she tried to run (yes, this Kira had apparently been female), as it said on files, on the twenty-first of February, then that would only have been a day's difference between the capture and her waking up after falling down the stairs, with six months' worth of her memories missing. How did that work?

She remembered seeing someone's face before she passed out. It was her mother's. Now when she fell asleep she saw her father's face glowing behind her eyelids. Whenever she tried to think of the six months she had lost, her head really hurt. It physically made her mind ache, as if replacement memories should be spawned or the real ones would just not come back, no matter how hard she tried. Occasionally, when she was asleep, she would allow her thoughts to wander back to her missing memories. All she heard was screams.

Her breaths caught for a moment as she heard another, one she recognized as her own. This, if nothing else, frightened her. Having others know your past better than you do yourself is terrifying. It made K feel out of control. For a girl who was so used to being strong and knowing almost everything, this was the scariest prospect she could permit herself to imagine.

She heard someone coming and put away the files hastily, closing the drawer.

Romeo entered, his face innocent and startled.

"I didn't know you were in here. I was just looking for you, actually," he admitted.

She forced a smile. "What is it?"

"It's important, apparently. There's an epic-ly huge meeting going on in the main hall. You'd better go, being number one and all," he laughed. "Come on, I'll take you."

"Okay," K agreed, standing up and following Romeo out.

He frowned. "By the way, what were you doing in there? That's the place they keep case files."

"I…I wanted to check on some stuff about a case I worked on a while back. You know, nostalgia," K confessed. It wasn't exactly a total lie. She _had _worked on it, according to surveillance in the office and to Slo. Also, she and L had discussed it for a little while the first time they had spent proper time together. L hadn't said much about it, to be honest. It had been a conversation based on her questions for the most part, and then a few monosyllabic answers on his part. Now look how far they had come! She felt she could tell L and C anything. They were her family now.

But would they tell _her_ everything-?

"Hey!" K snapped as someone pushed past her. "Watch where you're walking!"

The person who'd knocked her turned around, glaring.

"Oh, for God's sake, Leo," Romeo sighed. "You're not still hung up on-"

"Got you on her leash too, huh, Romeo?" Leo retorted. "I would have thought you smarter than that, being number seven."

Two years had done a lot to Leo. He had gone from popular and likeable to bitter and angry. He had retained his good looks, but whatever smile had been on his face had turned to a smirk. He had swapped rooms with Romeo, not wanting to bask his former best friend's success. Sick of being fourth, Leo had tried for first one last time and dropped to eleventh. Worst of all, K didn't even know what she'd done wrong. She couldn't recall ever throwing him aside as a friend or being cruel to him. One day, he just stopped being her friend. He stopped being Slo's friend. He fell into Fall's crowd (now easily the bitchiest girl in Wammy's).

"Clearly, being K's friend makes you more intelligent," Romeo defended himself, "considering you are now number eleven."

"Forget it," K muttered to Romeo. "He's a lost cause."

"Keep talking, bitch," Leo grumbled. "Maybe someday someone will be stupid enough to believe your bullshit, like your dumbass worshippers."

"Oh, _hell no_," K growled, turning around to face him. "You can insult me all you want, but you do not, let me repeat, _do not_, badmouth my friends after how they tried to actually _help _you. I do not care what your beef is with me; in fact, I don't even know what it is, but I will smash your empty head against a wall if you mess with them – _ever_."

"K." Romeo touched her arm. "We'll be late for the meeting. Let's go-"

"That's it," Leo taunted. "Run away, why don't you? It's what you Hathaways always seem to do. You see, Hamlet made that mistake, running. Running off with K, actually, and now look where he is. Rotting six feet-"

Romeo's fist shot out in the direction of Leo's smug little face only to have it caught in someone's hand. That someone wasn't Leo. Their eyes followed the arm up to the blue eyes that were sparkling with amusement.

"Do you have this effect on all men, K?" Sky teased.

"Oh, fuck off," K muttered. "I don't need _you _here as well. Leo fills the quota of males that piss me off so badly I want to kill them well enough, thank you. You can be on your way to… to wherever the hell you're going. Probably some other poor girl's room to hide under their bed. I don't care. Leave me alone."

"Feisty, isn't she?" Sky laughed.

"Oh, great, another American prick…" Leo demanded. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Oh, I can see why Romeo here wanted to hit you," Sky said nonchalantly. "You really are very annoying. But I digress. How rude of me not to introduce myself… my name is Sky Saxon. I have raped and killed eight women. Do you still want to try your luck?"

"What the _fuck_?" Leo gasped. "You're sick!"

Sky looked over at Romeo, gesturing towards Leo. His expression was puzzled. "I don't think he gets it, do you?"

"You think this is funny?" Leo snarled. "You must be as retarded as the rest of her sycophants-"

He was cut off by K grabbing him by his hair abruptly and thrusting his face into the wall incredibly hard. She let him go and clapped her hands together once.

"I did warn him," she said. "Shall we?"

She began making her way down the corridor towards the main hall whilst Romeo and Sky talked.

"Please tell me you weren't serious about raping and killing eight women," Romeo chuckled nervously. "That was a lie, right?"

"Yeah, it was," Sky admitted.

"Phew," Romeo muttered under his breath.

"Nah, I got five of them."

"…Huh?"

**XXX  
**Apparently, it had been important that everybody turn up for the meeting, as roughly one hundred and twenty people crammed into the main hall, looking up at the podium where the 'big announcement' would be made. The room was abuzz with excitement and anticipation. Even all of the Beyond's kids were present. Beyond himself had bothered to turn up to hear what was going to be said.

The room went quiet when the door behind the podium opened and L walked in – alone. That was the clincher. He never went somewhere without C flanking him, just in case. Here, she was absent. K walked in late with Romeo, everybody's eyes drawn to them for a fleeting moment. L tilted his head to one side.

"K, do you have a reason for your lateness?"

"I apologize," she said, "I was just smashing Leo's head against a wall."

"We'll have a talk about that," he responded, trying not to smile. "Regardless, there is something I wish to speak to you all about-"

He was interrupted by the door opening again and Leo being pulled in, bloody and irate, by his collar. Sky had a strong grip on him, a cold expression on his face. He literally threw him towards Fall, who let out a freaked-out squeal.

His voice was low and icy. "Take him."

He did not give an excuse for his lateness. Everybody could tell what he'd been doing by looking at how bruised and bloody Leo was.

"Right," L continued, "so this is what we're here for. Six of you have been chosen to come along with C and I on a case that will take us to California. There have been three interesting murders, which we think will be of use to your education. In addition, you will be performing undercover work. For those of you who are not aware, this is not going to be a CU case, nor will it be an AU."

"Computer Usage or Agent Usage," Checkmate hissed to Damnation. "It'll be an OU. Own Usage."

"This case requires a large amount of improvisation and observational skills. It will also need people who can fight, use a weapon and swim."

"Star's got a high chance," Slo whispered. "She's here because she's bloody brilliant with guns."

"Or Checkmate," Damnation added. "He's our best fighter."

"The people whose aliases I am going to say are required to go to their rooms and have three hours to prepare. You should pack less than one week's worth of clothing; clothes for your undercover work will be bought for you once we are in America," L explained. "First of all: K. You will be coming with us."

She nodded.

"Secondly, Slo."

Slo went to stand by K, feeling Checkmate pat his shoulder in congratulations.

"Thirdly, Damnation, you will be coming with us also."

Damnation's jaw dropped open. Nobody had been expecting that in the least. It was thought that perhaps nine-year-old Chip Chaos, the third-in-line, should be going on the trip, or at least an easier choice than Damnation. He went to stand with the other two, who were gaping at him with a combination of astonishment and exasperation. He would be like an excited puppy for the entire journey.

"Next, we have Rebel."

"Say again?" Rebel gasped. "Why me?"

"Your knowledge of the area we are visiting will be of great use," L murmured. "I think you had better go join the others."

"Hang on a second," B said. "You're taking one of ours with you and you didn't even tell us?"

"I don't see why I should have to tell you," L said coolly. "For as long as they are here, they are not 'Beyond's kids' as you would have them believe, but Wammy's kids. They take the same lessons as Wammy's kids. They stay in the same building. They go about their daily business in the same manner. So yes, we are taking Rebel with us."

"This is insane," B growled.

"May I continue?" L asked calmly.

"I… uh… yeah, whatever."

"Thank you," L said. "Now, the fifth person who will be coming to California with us is Nancy."

"Now hold on one minute-" B protested.

"And lastly, we are asking Sky."

"_What?"_ K gasped, her head snapping around to look at the dark-haired young man. Her expression was priceless, actually _disgusted._ "No!"

"I am not getting on a plane with _her_," Sky supplied. "End of."

"Never," K interjected.

"I'm not spending a week with the freakin' Ice Queen!" Sky insisted. "She'll drive me up the wall!"

"That's not my name," she growled at him. "My name is _K_."

"Guys, pipe down. We'll work it out," Slo interrupted.

"Slo, if I kill him, will you say it was self-defense?" she asked, folding her arms.

"Ha! You couldn't kill an insect! You don't have it in you," Sky laughed without humor.

Slo bit his lip, knowing the truth. He was ridiculously glad she didn't have a Death Note anymore, or Sky would be dead by now.

"Break it up, you two," Rebel snapped at them. She turned to Slo. "You deal with K. I'll sort Sky out."

"Whose stupid idea was this?" Damnation asked. "They're going to be at each others' throats all week!"

"I will make sure that Sky does not have access to _un coteau_," Nancy told him. "_Ou de la corde_."

"A what?" Damnation muttered.

"French is the one language that Damnation sucks at," Slo informed Nancy quickly. "She means 'a knife, or some rope'."

"Oh…"

**XXX**

"Explain to me why you chose them. I'm not contesting your decision in any way; I'm just curious as to know why you picked those six out of the one hundred and twenty we could have chosen. I mean, I understand why you chose the top two: K and Slo, that makes sense. But Damnation?" C folded her black and white 'Never Argue With Your Rice Krispies' t-shirt up, pressing it into her suitcase.

"That boy needs a self-esteem boost. This will help him, in any case," L pointed out. "Pass me the hair gel."

"I still can't believe you use hair gel." She looked up at his hair for a second. "Actually, yeah. Yeah, I can. Hair that defies gravity is not naturally styled."

"As for Rebel, she knows San Francisco, as does Slo. They used to live there, and with their memories as good as they are, they will be able to help the other four navigate," L pointed out.

"What about Nancy?"

"Nancy seems like she could Damnation with his anti-French language barrier, and she blends in a lot better with young people than say, K or Damnation, do. I have spoken to her. She appears to be a bright girl. Plus she speaks all the different versions of Chinese, which will be helpful as Chinese is the majority ethnicity in San Francisco."

"And Sky?"

"Sky is B's first-in-line, his best. I thought it would be a good idea to pit my best against him-"

"She's going to kill you. She hates his guts."

"It must be in the bloodline."

"L. Don't let your pride get in the way of this case. I know you're trying to kill two birds with one stone here, but if any of them end up hurt, it will be your fault. I can't stop them."

"C, do you trust me?"

"You can't ask me that."

"And you can't make me do this on my own. So I'll ask you again. Do you trust me?"

She turned back to her packing. "I'll think about it."

* * *

_Whenever I picture a mixture of Beyond's and Wammy's kids, I always see each of them standing in a dark room with individual spotlights trained on each of them. You'd get each of them explaining their character really fast e.g._

_L: I'm the detective._

_C: I'm the threat._

_B: I'm the enemy._

_M: I'm the traitor._

_Rebel: I'm the old flame._

_Sky: I'm the rapist._

_Nancy: I'm the liar._

_Damnation: I'm the coward._

_Slo: I'm the fool._

_K: I'm the killer._

_Wow, I should go into advertising. That would be a kick-ass trailer._

_Anyways, what do you think, and if you haven't voted in the poll yet, check it out! It should be becoming even more fun!_

_Thanks for reading._

_C._


	7. Hey Soul Sister

Aurélie Lefevre went missing when she was sixteen. On the twenty-fourth of November, she was working in her father's butcher shop in a small town called Valbonne, in the south of France. It was only about four hours' drive to Cannes or slightly longer to Nice. Specifically, Cannes or Nice Airport. That same day, a woman called Arnaude Laroche decided to leave the hotel she was staying at for a few hours and go to buy some meat for a barbecue since her friend, named Benoît Morel, had gotten into a fight that morning with a member of hotel staff and they would have to go stay somewhere else.

Laroche was not the only one who was staying at that hotel with Morel. With them, they had brought a teenager called Christophe Morel and a small boy called Jérôme Morel – apparently Morel's sons –, along with a brown-haired girl called Océane Laroche (listed as Laroche's cousin). The five of them were keeping a low profile, and it turned out they were only to stay in Valbonne for a week. They arrived on the seventeenth of November, and left on the twenty-fourth.

Aurélie was boning a fish one-handedly when Laroche entered Monsieur Lefevre's boucherie at half past one in the afternoon. She watched as the girl effortlessly cut through flesh and knew where the bones would be without looking. Laroche made herself a bet – she knew without a doubt that there would be no bones in the fish when the customer bought it. This teenage girl was astonishingly good with knives. She purchased the food she needed, then left.

Alain David would be the last person to definitely see Aurélie. When the girl went out on her break, she sat out on the steps by the back door of the boucherie, having washed her hands and removed her uniform to wear a light pink t-shirt and a pair of jeans with a white cardigan, as was custom for her. Alain David bugged her to go out on a date with him for ten minutes, suggesting that they go the following Friday. They did not.

Océane Laroche interrupted their arguing by swearing at David very loudly in French and telling Aurélie that if she wanted to take a break, she knew a good coffee shop in the town square. Aurélie happily accepted. It was only after they had reached a dark alleyway that Aurélie realized they were not going the right way to get to the square. Océane apologized, this time in English, and watched as the other teenager that had been staying with Laroche and Morel – Christophe – chloroformed her.

Aurélie was transported from Valbonne to Cannes, where the five tourists admitted to her that they were not indeed French, but of different nationalities altogether. They told her they had taken her with them because they had seen her skill with knives and thought she could build on that skill.

She did not protest to their taking her. She had always known that she had wanted to leave Valbonne, and they had done her a favor. At first, she missed her mother and father, and then she began to feel numb. They caught a plane from Cannes to Bucharest, Romania, where they met a woman called Sabina Dimitru, somebody Laroche had contacted to meet them. Dimitru informed them they should call her Scarlett from now on, and that she had ordered them all plane tickets to Birmingham, Alabama, where they would meet with a computer genius, Sara Drew, someone they should refer to as Leah.

Aurélie had not been addressed by her real name for almost a year and a half. Now, as she readied herself to board a plane yet again, she could not help but think back to that first time she had traveled with her new 'family'. 'Christophe' and 'Océane' were going with her, just as they had done the first time. She knew that the search for her had consumed over ten months of the national police force's time. She knew her father had gone on television with a campaign searching for her. This had spread internationally, and had led to her dyeing her hair and frequently wearing contact lenses. Nobody commented on it. They were perfectly used to her being blonde and blue-eyed now.

Aurélie Lefevre was gone. Nancy Portman took her place. And that was the name on her passport as she handed it to the stewardess. She glanced back at these people she was to spend at least a week with in close proximity. Damnation dealt with a farewell noogie from Checkmate, C being almost hugged to death by Mello, Slo kissing Callie goodbye, Rebel listening to M's lecture, Sky getting punched on the arm by Beyond, L shaking hands with Roger and… oh, wait, Sky was being mobbed by a bunch of girls before he got on the plane.

"Are we ready to go?" C checked. "All got your passports?"

"Yes," they chorused.

"You'd better call me as soon as you get off that plane," Callie warned Slo.

"He'll be fine, Cal, I promise," K told her, putting one hand on her shoulder. "We'll make sure he looks after himself."

"Thank you," Callie smiled at her. "I'll see you all when you get back."

"Here are your tickets," L said, handing them out. "They have your names on them. No swapping seats, please. We want to know where you are."

"I'm next to Rebel?" Slo said. "Oh, that's not so bad."

"Damnation, I'm with you, it seems," Nancy murmured.

K frowned at C. "Please tell me I'm sitting next to you." C shook her head. "Shit!"

"Twelve hours on a plane next to _her_?" Sky said incredulously. "Seriously? Tell me you're joking. This isn't even funny."

"This isn't a joke," L informed him. "And if you _children _can't get along, we'll put you together for _all _of your missions. How does that sound to you? Can't you just sense the excitement in the air?"

"I'll take them all to the plane now. You call Jenna and make sure she knows we're on our way," C instructed. "She'll want to know. She's going up to San Francisco to meet us."

"Okay. You go," L said. For some reason unknown to the others, he glanced over at Beyond warily, who was still chatting to M.

They made their way up to the plane, K and Sky preparing themselves most ardently for twelve hours of what was surely going to be their worst possible nightmares. The others tried very, very hard not to laugh at their evident hatred for each other. At one point Damnation was stupid enough to stand between them in the middle of one their heated arguments. Whenever a relatively harmless dispute began, it worsened quickly since the two of them always had an answer for the other's quip.

"Are you sure we can't switch seats?" Damnation sniggered with Nancy.

"Aw, _c'est adorable,_" Nancy replied.  
"I understand _that_," he pointed out, grinning. "Even if my French is crap."

"Your non-French is very cute," she giggled. "And I have twelve hours to listen to it whilst I cringe."

"You speak English better than I do, and it's my first language," Damnation admitted. "It's embarrassing."

"Well, let's hear your American accent," she dared him. "Maybe it's better than mine."

He cleared his throat, trying it out in Texan. "What do y'all think of this one, little lady?"

She cracked up laughing. "That is absolutely awful!" she teased. "You sound like a cowboy's grandmother on steroids!"

"A cowboy's grandmother on steroids?" he repeated. "Ouch."

"Who's a cowboy's grandmother on steroids?" Slo called out.

"_You're _a cowboy's grandmother on steroids!" Damnation shot back.

"It's not the worst thing I've been called," Slo said, shrugging as he ducked his head to get onto the plane, following Damnation, Nancy, Sky and K.

Rebel laughed. "I'll be honest; I'm probably the culprit for calling you worse things."

"You know, I would not be surprised," he replied jokily. "Come on; let's go."

About an hour into the flight, Nancy was daring Damnation to watch _Coco Before Chanel _without the subtitles just to see his horrified expression. Rebel and Slo discussed memories of their old home. Sky and K had turned away from each other, folding their arms. C and L were looking through the case file together, trying to ignore the fact that the new mother to L's right was failing at getting her baby to stop crying. L looked like he was to bang his head against the seat in front of him.

"You look tired," C said to the mother. "Do you want me to take her for a bit?"

"Would you mind?" the woman asked. "Thanks a lot. She's a sweetie, but she can be exhausting sometimes. Here." She handed the baby to C.

"How can you tell she's female?" L questioned her.  
"She's wearing pink, you idiot. And you can tell by those big blue eyes she's got. What's her name?"

"Saoirse," the mother answered. "She's nine months, bless her." She shook L's hand. "My name's Gemma, by the way." She exhaled for about five seconds. "I guess I'd better get some sleep. Just wake me up when she wants a feed. Look, she's stopped crying already."

While Gemma rested, L tilted his head in confusion.

"She's just looking up at us," he said, puzzled. "What does she want?"

"I think she wants to know who the hell these strange people are that are looking after her while Mummy is sleeping," C chuckled. "Babies don't have ulterior motives, L."

"I am uncertain of babies," he admitted. "I always am concerned I will break them."

"Well, I'm holding her, so you're not going to break her, are you?" she reminded him. Saoirse extended one pudgy hand, tiny fingers reaching out for L's face. She poked him in the eye and giggled once with what sounded like 'gah'.

"She doesn't like me," he said.

"Yes, she does. She poked you in the eye _because _she likes you."

He paused. "Babies make no sense."

"She thinks you're interesting. She's exploring, in her own little way. You really don't get babies, do you?"

"Aliens."

"Little people," she corrected him. "You were a baby once. K was a baby once."

"I _still _don't understand her."

C glanced over at K, sitting beside Sky and still refusing to even look at him. She nodded towards her.

"L, sweetie…" she laughed. "I think you're not the only one."

"Sky?"

"Mm-hm."

**XXX**

He wanted to kick her. She was so unbelievably infuriating. He kept purposefully leaving the window cover open or the lights just to piss her off. She deserved it. If there was anyone he would kill to stay away from, it was her. He had never met anybody quite so stubborn. It had been over an hour and she still hadn't granted him the courtesy of initiating a conversation. Then again, neither had he. It wasn't like he felt guilty. He just felt irritated.

How could the entertainment on the plane have over two and a half thousand options yet he couldn't find anything that he wanted to watch or listen to? It was so ridiculous.

Even after L's warning that they might end up together on all of their missions, they had avoided each others' gazes like the plague. Eventually, she turned around to get comfortable, telling him in no polite terms to budge over or else. It was only after the stewardess walked past offering them drinks that they even were friendly in each other's presence. He ordered a Pepsi. She ordered a Coke.

He was getting a headache after listening to nothing but the engines humming; she was clearly that annoying. He felt sick, which was odd, since he had never had any problems with flight before. He wondered if sleeping it off would make the nausea recede, and so set about trying to fall into unconsciousness. Just as he felt he were about to drift off, he felt a cold hand pressed to his forehead. He scrunched up his face, hating the temperature. His eyes blinked open as he frowned.

K's eyes were narrowed. She was touching his forehead.

"What do you want?" he muttered.

"You've gone really pale," she responded emotionlessly. "I wondered if you had a fever. My mistake." Her hand curled up and returned to her lap. "Go back to sleep, Sky."

He closed his eyes again, then opened one to study K's expression, which was irritated and, underneath all of that, scared. He swallowed. He didn't know quite what to think of her. His immediate instinct was to hate her. For him, it made sense. She was blunt, annoying and despised him back. Yet she sat there with perfectly obvious concern for his wellbeing, though she tried not to show it. What the fuck was he supposed to think of that?

It hurt to imagine, worsening his headache, so what Sky did was sit back and sleep, as she'd told him to do.

He had a feeling this would be the only time he'd do something she ordered him to.

* * *

_You've got to love 'em._

_And I love your reviews; they're like cookies!_

_C._


	8. Comatose

K rolled over in her sleep, gritting her teeth. Her murmurs were softly spoken, yet disturbed beneath it all. Her chest rose and fall with the feeling of foreboding that swept over her like a zip being drawn on a black body bag. She frowned in her unconsciousness, bowing her head. She couldn't get this image out of her head. It had started coming back, just as it had been present two years ago.

_All she did was __watch as he fell into the cold black water. He clung to the pier's foundations desperately, gasping for breath as adrenaline pounded in his veins. It was the same as always. She watched him drown. Except, this time, while he cried out for help, she turned her head sadly and saw the teenager from the halls, the one who had grabbed her arm._

"_Why do you talk about me like you know me?" K snarled. "You don't know shit."_

"_I see dead people," she whispered simply._

_This shut her up. "Why won't I help him?" she asked quietly, her voice sounding hurt and confused. "He's dying."_

"_You're the one who killed him," Eve Skeleter replied. Her expression and her voice were both blank and soulless. "Why would you help him?"_

"_I didn't kill him!" she protested. "I didn't do it!"_

"_You lie so easily, because you just don't remember," Eve continued. "But I know what happened. I saw _his _memories. He's not happy."_

"_You're sick!" K choked out. "He's dead! There's no way you can see his memories! And I didn't kill him! I didn't do it! I-"_

"I didn't do it!" she gasped, jerking awake and smashing heads with one particularly pissed off teenager. He stared at her for a moment.

"Ice Queen! Hey! Ice Queen, you moron, you're awake now. There's nothing to freak out about. Except me."

"W-what?" she stammered. She was beginning to reach coherence now. "What was I doing?"

"You said you didn't do it."

"I didn't!" she said before she could stop herself.

He frowned. "You're weird. Shut up and get your shit together, Ice Queen. We're here."

"What time is it? And stop calling me Ice Queen!"

"It's half four in the morning, you idiot. Eight-hour time difference and all. You sorta just got eight hours of your life back. And sorta not." Sky threw her rucksack at her. "Let's go, then, Ice Queen."

K scowled, following him.

"I'm so going to fucking kill you."

**XXX**

Jenna met them at the airport, hugging C and L cheerfully and greeting each of them anew. When she saw Rebel, her entire frame went rigid. Rebel in return seemed startled. Jenna was shaking so much it was likely she would bite off her own tongue. She gripped L's shoulder, blue eyes fierce, and spat out a question that everyone say for Rebel had been expecting.

"Is this all of you?"

"Yes," Rebel answered for them. Her voice was firm. "Yes, this is everybody."

She walked past Jenna, ignoring her narrowed eyes, heading straight for the luggage collection point. C was not oblivious to the coolness of the exchange. She had seen the flicker of recognition in both Jenna and Rebel's eyes, and knew that something must have happened between them for their dislike to be so instantaneously mutual. She continued to watch them, observing how Rebel refused to even look at the blonde and how the woman who had once been C's enemy appeared edgy, even _afraid_.

Once they were in Jenna's navy blue truck, C spoke to her.

"How do you know Rebel?"

"Who?" Jenna almost stamped her foot on the brake. "That dark-haired girl?"

"Yes."

"C, honey, you don't-"

"Don't lie to me. She's Slo's friend. She's been spending time in our home. We are spending the next seven or more days with her. Don't you dare say to me that you have never met Rebel before in your life, or you can't understand why I am behaving this way. Be honest, Jenna, and I might be able to help you," C said calmly.

"You…" Jenna glanced back into the truck, where the teenagers were chatting animatedly together and L was trying to take in his surroundings. Slo and Rebel studied every corner, every inch of the concrete sidewalks, all of the adult stores and cheap diners. It was not a pleasant, hygienic entrance to San Francisco from the airport, and all of them were pleased they weren't having to trek up the hills.

"Jen, it's okay."

The truck had slowed into what appeared to be immoveable traffic. It was now that Jenna reached down to the fabric of her shirt and lifted the bottom of it to show a vicious red line about one and a half inches long in diameter. It was obvious that the gash was old, since the skin around it had healed, yet the scar had remained an angry red and still looked rather sore. It fit perfectly to the shape of a jab with a knife.

"Jenna," C breathed. Her mind began to put two and two together. "You were stabbed two years ago. The night that Hamlet died."

"Yes."

"Rebel stabbed you?" She sounded serene, as if asking her about the weather.

Jenna nodded. "There was a man with her, a dark-haired man… it may have been her boyfriend or something of the time, but he was quite a bit older than her."

"How old?" C asked.

"I don't know," Jenna hesitated. "Mid-twenties? Twenty-seven at most. She stabbed him as well."

"She _what_?"

"Can we really not talk about this now? I'll call you to discuss it when I'm safely back in Los Angeles." She dug into her pocket for a moment and handed a small white card to C. "Oh, by the way, he says this is his new number if you want to get into contact with him for anything new. He's in San Diego at the moment; he came up all the way from Nevada after he heard you might be hiring."

"I didn't say we were hiring," C told her. "But thanks for getting him closer to the city. What's he done this time to merit repentance with the law?"

"He _says _he's been a perfect angel."

"He says that _every _time."

"I know."

They laughed nervously together, quieting down as they listened to the teenagers' conversation in the back of the truck. Jenna drove them towards a place called Café Mason and dropped them off there. They were fairly close to Union Square from there; all they would have to do would be to walk down the sloped sidewalk for about three or four minutes and turn left. Macy's clothing store was nearby, as was SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art), Abercrombie and Fitch as well as several different designer stores (cue Nancy clapping her hands at the mention of Louis Vuitton) and the San Francisco Westfield Center.

"I'll see you in a few days to check how you're doing," Jenna said. "You guys be careful."

"Thank you for your assistance, Jenna," L nodded. "See you then."

The blue truck left quicker than it had arrived, the traffic having begun to flow much easier than before. They began to make their way up to the Hilton Hotel San Francisco, where they would be staying throughout their trip. C glanced once at Café Mason, a retro diner that sparked several memories, not all of them delightful.

"I remember that place," she murmured, walking with K up to the hotel. "The last time I ate there, there was a shooting outside. I saw a fair amount of blood and bullets that night."

"Yeesh," K grimaced. "That's right by our hotel. I feel _so _good about staying here now."

"It's very rare that a shooting happens in this sort of area," Rebel called to K. "It's more often than not about two blocks away from the more classy regions that drive-bys go on. It's not like you're going to get shot here. Well, unless you piss someone off pretty bad."

"Remember that drive-by we saw from my apartment roof down at the Wharf?" Slo elbowed her.

"That wasn't such a bad one. I saw worse in New York."

"Lower East Side?"

"Don't ask. Gives you a fucking headache, one I would not like to relive."

"Fair enough, girl. Fair enough."

**XXX**

Three rooms had been booked in the third 'tower' of the Hilton. C and L shared one, the girls in another and the boys in the last. L explained this as they entered the lobby, and whilst some of the others were dragging their wheelie suitcases in behind them, Rebel and Slo had decided on waiting to get their room keys. Suddenly, Rebel froze, letting out some sort of yelp, and dove behind one of the armchairs in the lobby.

Slo chuckled. "Are you all right?"

Rebel's head popped up from behind the armchair – or rather, the top of her head. Her eyes scanned the lobby again and she dropped behind the furniture once more.

"Rebs, are you okay?" he laughed. "Come on now. You're being silly."

She reached up, clinging to the top of the armchair. Her face was torn between horror and embarrassment. She was biting her tongue to stop herself emitting a humiliatingly high-pitched squeak. She looked like she wanted the Earth to open beneath her cute black stilettos and swallow her up.

Across the lobby, a tall, auburn-haired man was walking down the steps wearing a white shirt and a pair of black jeans. Slo followed her eyeline and his mouth fell open; the man possessed the same warm brown eyes as Rebel, and he was precisely how he imagined a male version of the girl to be. He seemed to move in slow-motion for a moment, and then Slo glanced down at his friend, still hidden behind an armchair. He gestured wordlessly towards the man, then back to her.

"You're kidding," he choked out. "He's your-"

"_Shut up_!" she hissed. "I know!"

"What's he doing here?"

"I – _don't _– know!" she spat out through gritted teeth. "I'm just fucking pleased he's not wearing flares to top it all off…"

"What?"

"Is he looking this way?" she checked.

"He is _now_."

"Oh, _fuck_."

"He's walking over here. He looks a bit pissed."

"What, drunk-pissed or _pissed_-pissed?"

"Pissed-pissed." He smiled gingerly at the man before patting Rebel's shoulder. "You're on your own here, buddy. Don't forget that the other girls are going to be waiting for you upstairs."

Rebel clenched her teeth together, screwing her eyes tightly shut as she felt her only remaining family grab her by her jacket and drag her towards the staff bathrooms. A terrified-looking maid tried to enter the room, stammering a little.

"Uh… T-Tony…"

"Go get some lunch or something, Hannah. I'm trying to have a very important talk with my _friend_."

"O-okay… if you're sure…"

The door slammed and they heard the clacking of high-heeled shoes sprinting across the lobby. Tony glared at his sister with a vengeance that made even her recoil. She could feel his anger and resentment burning her where she stood. It was a moment before Rebel – Ruby – could look him in the eye. She bowed her head. She didn't say anything. She didn't need to.

Mutely, Tony wrapped his arms around his younger sister.

"Where have you been? I thought that One had gotten to you," he muttered.

"He couldn't get to me if he tried," Rebel muttered. "He gave it a shot and failed."

Tony stepped out of the embrace and studied her for about thirty seconds. His frown deepened.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm staying here… with friends," she answered hesitantly. "Why are you here?"

"I work here. I had to find something to do that was honest for a little while when you didn't have to be looked after. I thought I'd go and rent our old apartment for a while. You know, the one in which you saw it fit to murder-"

"It was self-defense."

"In Dad's case, maybe. But in Mom's and Chloe's?"

"I didn't want them there, to have to – but I'm not going to defend myself for the likes of _you_! You left me alone in LA two years ago! You left me to get shot at by guys you _knew_ wanted to kill us! Mischa didn't understand all those years ago what she was putting us through, and now we have to deal with the consequences. You _knew _that. And yet you weren't there. Imagine dealing with _that_, and then you can talk to me about how it feels to be the only one left."

* * *

_I've come to a decision - one or two sentences as previews will be posted underneath chapters regularly, unless it's a major chapter with a cliffhanger I can't reveal yet! Enjoy, and please review if you do (or if you don't either, it doesn't matter) like._

_C._

**Preview**

K's fist dropped down on the desk in front of her. She did not dare to look at the person behind her in the mirror on the wall. "What's _that _supposed to mean?" she demanded. "If you have something to say to me, fucking say it already!"

Arms wrapped around her waist for a second, and then a cool voice whispered breathily in her ear. "All I have to say is... I think you had better reconsider your tone or I might get a little... angry."


	9. Ordeal by Corpse

"Wakey, wakey, Princess," Rebel said dully, throwing a pillow at K's head. "We're leaving for breakfast in an hour. Go have a shower or something. Clean yourself up. You look like shit."

"Thanks," K muttered. She rubbed her eyes wearily. "I feel like shit too."

Nancy passed K a towel and a set of clothes that were not hers. She was checking her flawless face in a compact mirror, confidently applying shiny pale pink lip gloss and fixing her needed-to-be-straightened blonde hair. K swung her legs out of bed and began combing her fingers through her own hair. Rebel glanced over once and then grinned.

"Hey, hang on a second, Princess," she mumbled. "Stay still."

She went to look at her head and let out a quiet laugh.

"Your hair's going dark. It's black underneath. What, you gonna start gelling it up into spikes and wearing gross clothes, 'cause that's _so _not cool with me," she sniggered. "I don't want to go sharing a room with L's clone. That's just wrong."

"Whatever." K rubbed the back of her neck, easing any cricks out of it. "I'm going to go get dressed. No, Nancy, I'm not wearing your stuff."

"This isn't mine," Nancy defended herself. "I found it outside. It says it's for Number One, so I thought of you."

"What?" K frowned.

Rebel read the note, blanching before she scowled. "It's not _for _Number One, you moron; it's _from _Number One. Your English is so ridiculous sometimes." She snatched the garment from K's hands and took it out into the corridor, throwing it as hard as she could away from their room. She responded to the others' confusion with: "Get dressed."

**XXX**

On the bus that waited to take them to Sausalito, K came to a sudden realization. She hadn't once heard the words 'ice queen' that morning. It was rather pleasant not having to deal with it. She leant back in her seat, closing her eyes for a moment. She didn't have any jetlag anymore, but it was nice to let her mind go blank for a while. C nudged her elbow.

"K, Sky's not come downstairs yet. The boys say he's acting strangely. Could you go snap him out of it?"

"Do I have to?" the girl groaned. "Can't someone else do it?"

"Please, K," C sighed. "Don't be difficult. The lads say they've tried and he's not listening, so they think you should give it a shot. You're the one who can kick his butt if he tries anything. Go on. We'll wait for you."

"_Fine_," K muttered, unhooking her seatbelt and leaving the bus to enter the hotel. She jogged through the lobby, pressed the button to get to the twenty-seventh floor of the third 'tower' and finally reached the room next to hers. She noticed the door had been left slightly ajar, entering warily. The lights had been switched off, the curtains drawn. "Sky? Sky, get your ass out here. The bus is leaving any minute."

There was no answer. She walked a little further into the room, wondering where the hell he'd gotten to. Once about halfway into the room, she heard the door behind her close. She swallowed and turned to see Sky standing there, pale, withdrawn and blank-faced. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Sky? There you are! Come on, you idiot, let's go or we'll never leave," she chastised. He didn't respond. "Sky?"

"They sent _you _to get me?" he laughed without humor, his cold expression never changing. "This is quite unexpected. I imagined it would be Rebel, or perhaps Nancy. One of my own."

"Stop talking bullshit," she snapped. "Let's go."

"You know, you could be such a help to me. But you said no. Do you not want anyone to help me, Ice Queen?" he growled.

"Sky?" she mumbled.

"'Sky, Sky'," he repeated mockingly. "Is that all you can say?"

"Stop it!" she ordered. "Stop it; you're scaring me!"

She turned around to face the desk on the left side of the room. She felt like she was going to be sick. She was stuck in a room with _Sky_, who was acting even creepier and more evil than usual! She couldn't look at him. He was freaking her out. Majorly.

"You could help, K."

K's fist dropped down on the desk in front of her. She did not dare to look at the person behind her in the mirror on the wall. "What's _that _supposed to mean?" she demanded. "If you have something to say to me, fucking say it already!"

Arms wrapped around her waist for a second, and then a cool voice whispered breathily in her ear. "All I have to say is... I think you had better reconsider your tone or I might get a little... angry."

She maneuvered herself so she was facing him this time. He was smirking.

"You like this, don't you?" he teased, his voice harsh as she felt his hot breath on her neck. "You like to pretend."

_Pretending… faking… lying… not knowing…_

She gasped, her knees going weak. Her head hit Sky's chest, knocking him backwards.

_"I've killed people. I could easily kill you."_

She found the words spilling off her tongue before she could stop herself.

"It _hurts_," she choked out. "My head… my head…"

_"What do you think you're doing, just hovering there?"_

She clambered to her feet and grabbed Sky's wrist. He could feel her shaking. She had gone cold.

_"It's true…"_

They made their way downstairs, K ignoring his icy glare and focusing on the painful pounding in her brain. She sat on the bus wordlessly, screwing her eyes tightly shut. C touched her arm.

"K, what's the problem?"

"_You."_

"Nothing," she gabbled in response. "I'm fine. Just a little headache is all. Can we go? Please?"

C's eyes narrowed. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing," she muttered. "Let's go to Sausalito. We're all here now."

**XXX**

Once in Sausalito, they stopped on the dock of the bay, where the local boat store-owner's wife Maria Cortez had been stabbed a week before the death of twelve-year-old Kristin Buckley in the main city. One would never have suspected that such murders were committed in a rural-looking area like Sausalito. Not far from Napa Valley, the Californian wine region, it seemed more like a tourist hotspot than a vicious crime scene. The ugliest thing that had happened near Sausalito before Cortez's murder was the building of San Quentin Prison, a place where executions still continued.

The police officer that met them on the scene was a Chinese man in his mid-forties, Superintendent George Cheng, born in San Francisco. The eight people that saw him noted that he wore no wedding ring. He shook C's hand calmly and gestured to the scene behind him, still taped off from civilian interference. C spoke to him in an American accent, as they asked all of them to do.

"Superintendent Cheng," she greeted him. "Agent Ana MacDermid, CIA. This is Agent Blue Ryuzaki and six of our trainees: Seth, Rhiannon, Nina, Kenzie, Dillon and Scout."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, though not quite under these circumstances," Cheng said. "Let me walk you through this, Agent MacDermid, Agent Ryuzaki, and maybe your trainees could talk to some of our boys. Detective Denver can help you out. Josh!"

"George, sir," Denver nodded, going to join him.

"Take these six around, show them the ropes," Cheng instructed. "We'll only be a little while. Come with me."

L and C followed Cheng to the waterside.

"She died right here, stabbed in the back of the neck. It could have been that her throat was slit, but it was the movement of the weapon was definitely a jab rather than the killer drawing it across. The rest of the wound appeared to be collateral damage." He pointed to a spot on the dock. "She fell here and was not moved after death. Her position was completely natural."

"We can confirm that," L told him. "One minute… Kenzie!"

"Yeah?" K called back.

"Can you come over here for a second?" he asked her. "Thank you." He looked right at Cheng. "You see, from what we hear, Maria Cortez was approximately the same height and weight of Kenzie here. If I were to stab here from behind…" He demonstrated with the stabbing motion. "Then she would fall…" He pushed her lightly. She knew she had to fall flat, and so she did. As a living human's instinct would be to put their hands out to protect themselves and lessen impact, K did what a corpse would do: she went completely limp.

Nancy winced when K hit the ground. Slo ran out to her to check she was okay, examining her face and touching her ribs to make sure she hadn't damaged them badly.

"I'm okay," she murmured. "I'm fine… look… I was warned beforehand. I'm not hurt."

"Good." He touched her bottom lip carefully. "You split your lip though. It's bleeding."

"I'll live. It's just a split lip," she replied.

"So, as you see, Superintendent Cheng, the body did indeed fall naturally. It was not moved afterwards," L agreed. "Onwards."

"There is not much else to tell," Cheng admitted. "None of the neighbors heard anything. The streets were clear. Nothing was seen-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," C interrupted, "let me get this straight. There are several families who live not one hundred and fifty yards from this dock, and it was a Saturday night that she was murdered, when people would have been out on the streets heading to friends' homes or to clubs, or even just going out to San Francisco for a while, and you're telling me that with all of this activity that was going on that night, and with locals who must have known each other, that nobody heard or saw _anything_? Anything at all?"

"We have tried to find witnesses, Agent MacDermid."

"You're not trying hard enough!" she snapped. "Any one of these people could have some information that could be of use. Even if they didn't see or hear anything, maybe they know some people who were just passing through town at the time of Maria Cortez's murder. They could have records of the killer using their credit card here, or a license plate on a car. Even just a car make would give us something to go on."

"Agent MacDermid, we have spoken to nearly all of the residents. They know nothing."

"It seems, then, we are dealing with a shadow," L murmured.

"I'm going to look around," C sighed. "Maybe you guys missed something. It probably wouldn't be the first time."

K sat down on the edge of the dock, watching the murky, glistening water splash close to her feet. The fog that had emerged over the morning hours was not fading as she had expected; it was worsening. It seemed to be rising from the water, fading about five feet into the air and then thickening again higher up. Her eyes trailed from the water to one of the boats either side of her. Two older men were bringing in the sails. They must have been stupid to plan to sail out in this sort of fog. The two men averted their eyes, occasionally allowing themselves to glance over.

She stood, pulling her coat around her tighter, and tentatively made her way over to the edge of the boat. She held onto the cold metal rail, the wind whipping her hair back. She frowned at them. One sailor finally walked closer, his hair grey and skin mottled.

"Can I help you, miss?" His accent reminded her mildly of Alabama.

"Why were you looking at me?" she asked quietly.

The bearded man who'd spoken first swallowed. "The last woman who sat on that dock was stabbed, ma'am. I don't think it's so wise for you to be there."

"How long have you been here?"

"I've lived in Sausalito near all my life, ma'am. This boat is like my home, in a way. I practically live on it."

"So you were here the night that Maria Cortez was killed?" K suggested softly.

Immediately, the old man bowed his head and turned away. "Good day, ma'am."

K let go of the railing and went back to standing on the dock, allowing her mind to whir. She had just realized something very dangerous.

The locals knew _exactly _what had happened. They just weren't talking. So they knew who the killer was. And where he was. And they weren't stopping them.

It appeared everybody in Sausalito was against the new investigators.

So why had they been told to investigate here?

**XXX**

"…And everything's going okay, say for Sky screwing up big time and acting all weird. It's like everyone's just keeping some huge secret. The Wammy's kids know something they're not telling, something about C. She seems to be at the heart of it all. And then there's Slo, the way he acts around K. I can't figure out whether he's big brother or friends with benefits," Rebel finished irritably. "How's going it for you back in England?"

M swallowed the piece of apple she'd been eating, reclining on her bed. "It's going smoothly, I think. The only problems we've had are Io and Athena. You know Io?"

"The emo one?"

"That's the one. Her fashion sense is better than two years ago, but her fear of blades has gotten worse. Guess who she's assigned to."

"Please tell me it's not Night," Rebel groaned. "He thinks he's the son of Death, for God's sake. He carries around a fucking _scythe_. What did he do?"

"Told her to become his Empress of Darkness or something crazily cute like that and offered to let her join him in the Underworld or Realm of the Dead or something. That's roughly the point he held his scythe to her and told her to hold still." She giggled. "He's so cute, bless him."

"And Athena? What's her beef?"

"Rebelling, I think. She doesn't trust us. She's trying to convince Checkmate we're up to no good and is failing. As for the rest, there are some drop-outs and some successes. Successes include Leo and Collette, Star and Jon and Blu and Zero," M listed. "Drop-outs are Mello and Scarlett and Near and Leah."

"What about the Linda woman?"

"Meh. No one cares about Linda; she's not assigned to anybody. She barely says two words that anyone listens to."

"Sad."

"_Lame_."

"Anything else?" Rebel sighed.

"You said Sky's acting weird. What's he doing?"

"God, where do I _start_…?"

* * *

**Preview**

Oh shit. No, no, no, no, no... that couldn't be right. She bit her lip and looked down at her knees, trying to think up some reason that what was before her was not the case. Her headache was throbbing, her heart was hammering and she looked so pale she might pass out any second. Was there any way she could lie? What had happened... she had forgotten it.

Now she remembered all of it. And she wished she hadn't.


	10. Gives You Hell

Two weeks later and the Adventurous Eight (as Nancy had nicknamed them, showing off her English skills) were still working on the case in San Francisco. They had visited all of the crime scenes, studied all of the pictures, scanned every single suspect profile and come up with a grand total of… nothing. For reasons unknown to others, all of the people in the investigation seemed distracted. Though she pretended that it didn't happen, K cried in her sleep and had particularly severe headaches in the morning. Slo was being especially protective of K in her vulnerable state, which pissed Rebel off badly. Sky was constantly in violent, melancholy moods, trying to block out everybody else around him. C was unexpectedly suffering mood swings that were driving L up the wall. Nancy was worrying about her hair color, having not found the right hair dye during their quick trip to Walgreen's in the week. This left Damnation annoyed because he had no idea what the fuck was going on.

And this pissed M off because she was now receiving phone calls every other day that sounded like they came from Rebel whilst she was in Auschwitz or something. Finally, it got to the point where she yelled at the girl down the phone, giving her an even worse headache than she had already. Not only was getting stick from the others, but she had to deal with anticipating any action from her fashion-senseless older brother.

The girls were clambering into bed when they heard an argument occurring on the other side of the wall. They muttered their contempt for the situation before slipping under the blankets and attempting unsuccessfully to tune out any of the insults being thrown.

Eventually, Rebel got up out of bed and went to leave the room.

"Rebs, where are you going?" Nancy asked.

"I'm going to call out advice to them," she answered nonchalantly. "If they give me hell for it, fuck it, it was them that started it."

On her way out, she met Slo in his pajamas – basically, baggy sweatpants he never wore out in public. She kept herself from ogling at him for long enough to ask him what the hell he was doing.

"I'm going to tell them to can it," he responded.

"Really?" she said. "That's boring. I was going to give them advice on insulting each other. L well and truly sucks at it. I think at one point she told him it was no wonder the witnesses wouldn't talk to Edward Scissorhands. If it were me, I would have retorted that Edward Scissorhands was played by Johnny Depp, who is pretty hot, but did you hear what he said?"

"'Who's Edward Scissorhands'?" Slo shook his head. "Absolutely shocking."

"I'm disappointed. You would have thought someone with an IQ like Stephen Hawking would be able to come up with something better than that," Rebel folded her arms in disapproval. She smiled at him. "Do you want to go interrupt?"

"What d'you reckon their reaction will be?" he wondered.

"L will probably say something along the lines of, 'we weren't arguing' and C will say, 'go back to bed; everything's fine'," she laughed. "Just like the argumentative parents."

"Except we're not children," he mumbled, "and we're not siblings."

Rebel realized he might not be talking about family relationships anymore. He was right; people changed a lot over one year, not mentioning twelve. They were both definitely more _developed _than they had been. She laughed it off cautiously, her intelligent eyes still surveying her former best friend.

"I don't know," she said. "K and Sky fight well enough to be brother and sister."

His intense expression relaxed for a second. "Yeah, they do. K's going to end up being attacked by him, isn't she?"

"Not if she gets him first," she pointed out. "I wouldn't put my money on either of them."

Slo chuckled, bowing his head. Then he took a step forward and hugged her.

"Thank you," he said, "for making things so normal. You know you rock, right?"

"Mm-hm."

"Are you okay?" He put his index finger under her chin and tilted it upwards. "I think you just stopped breathing there."

"I-"

She was cut off by Slo's expression. His eyes were fixed on the point behind her, where a certain auburn-haired man stood. He stepped out of the embrace and bit his lip. The man frowned at him, puzzled and irritated.

"Maybe we'll talk to Ryuzaki and Ana in the morning, yeah?" he suggested. "'Night, Rebs."

L suddenly stormed out of the bedroom, wearing his usual, jeans and a shirt with a pair of white sneakers (with no socks). Slo sighed and went to check on C instead. L told Rebel to get to bed soon if she wanted to wake up early in the morning to go to Alcatraz for that 'break' they'd wanted. Tony looked on in amazement as L disappeared down the corridor that headed towards the elevators.

"That boy… was that Sam?" he asked.

"If it was, what's it to you?"

"Nothing, just… you found him," he choked out. "You actually managed it. He's exactly how you describe him, just… bigger and… older."

"I knew him when we were six, Tony."

"So you don't know him now?"

"He's changed… a lot. We all have."

"Does he know you're sociopath?"

"He knows the truth about Mom, Dad and Chloe if that's what you mean. He doesn't quite know about the others yet. But I'll tell him when I get round to it, honest. I'm not going to screw up this chance to be friends with him again," Rebel snapped.

"Friends? Is that what you want? You looked pretty cozy there snuggling up to him. And he's not exactly ugly, is he? I can read it on your face like you're a five-year-old kid's picture book, Ruby Callahan. You _like_ him!" he teased. "You have the world's biggest crush on your childhood friend! How cute is that?"

"I do _not!_"

"Aw, who would have thought it-?"

"Fuck off, Tony!" she hissed. "You're screwing this up! Go home!"

"What? Back to Fisherman's Wharf?" he barked.

"Anywhere!" she shot back. "Anywhere but near to me, because you're just screwing up my life now! Go back to Fisherman's Wharf! Go back to LA! Go back to fucking _New York _for all I care; just get out of here, okay?"

Tony's face had turned to stone. "Fine. I will." He walked in the opposite direction before glancing once over his shoulder. "You'll regret this, Ruby. And I'm sorry I'm not good enough to be your brother anymore."

**XXX**

Oh shit. No, no, no, no, no... that couldn't be right. She bit her lip and looked down at her knees, trying to think up some reason that what was before her was not the case. Her headache was throbbing, her heart was hammering and she looked so pale she might pass out any second. Was there any way she could lie? What had happened... she had forgotten it.

Now she remembered all of it. And she wished she hadn't.

It had only happened shortly before she'd left for the month-long case in Reading. It wasn't that it had been _bad_… its consequences were the thing that concerned her now. She felt sick – and now she knew why. It had been six weeks. Why had she just fought with him? Now he would be even more pissed off and stressed out than he was already. This would hurt her, and therefore hurt –

"Holy… crap."

She closed her eyes, counting her breaths. She couldn't bring herself to look up from her knees and what she held in her palm. She recognized Slo's voice well enough to know it was him gaping at her from the doorway of the bathroom she'd barricaded herself in after the fight L had initiated.

"Please tell me… that's not what I think it is," he mumbled. "C?"

"Uh…" She finally got up and looked him straight in the eyes. "I think it is. I think…"

"Oh my God," he whispered. A soft smile lit up his face. "I can't believe it. You and L… C, you're…"

"I know," she said quietly. "Is it a bad sign for me to be really, really scared?"

"No," he chuckled. "That's completely understandable. I mean, you've never dealt with this sort of thing before, right?"

She made a sound that Slo couldn't decide if was laughing or crying. He took a few steps forward and hugged her tightly.

"You're much too grown-up," she said jokily. "Leave me alone so that I don't feel so completely childish."

"You know L will be happy really."

"After much debate."

"Yeah," Slo agreed. "And K will be going crazy for it. Just think – it's a family, isn't it?"

C's face fell. "There are some things you should know about my family, Slo. Both my new one and my old one. Come sit down. You'll need it."

Slo blinked at her and agreed, lowering himself down and crossing his legs.

**XXX**

Mello sighed, hearing the woman enter the room behind him. He was just checking his mail when she came in, doing that annoying swishy thing with her hips. If she shook her butt anymore than she did now, she'd end up breaking something. He had seen plenty of women like her before; they did nothing for him. He'd tried being nice. Now she was just pissing him off.

"Hey, Mels," she cooed. "How's it going?"

"Look, Scarlett-"

"Ssh, don't speak," she sighed. "I wanted to tell you…"

"You should know this, Scar-"

"Mello, I feel the same way…" she said seductively.

"Scarlett, you're not listening-!" he protested.

"You can say your piece in a second, let me just get this out…"

"No, seriously!" he snapped. "Scarlett, I've tried being polite to you, tried explaining this shit to you, but this is just annoying me now, so shut up and get this through your thick skull – you're not my type!"

"I bet I _could _be," she tried again.

"No, you _couldn't_," he insisted. "There is no way you could be my type. Scarlett, I'm _gay_."

"I – wait! Oh, come on! Mello!" she called out. "Don't walk out on me! Come back here, you son of a bitch!"

Mello face-palmed hopelessly, deciding to just go back to his classroom. He had a lesson in fifteen minutes. So what if he was a little early? He needed to keep himself occupied or else he'd end up hitting somebody. He'd talk to Near later. He was always the talker. Near just listened, thinking things through until he came out with some wise remark that would make everything better. Yep. He needed his boyfriend right now.

**XXX**

It was colder on Alcatraz Island than the mainland. They'd taken the boat from one of the piers the one and three-quarter kilometers to reach the ex-prison. When they got to the graffiti-covered whitewashed building that was on the dock, they knew they'd left the murders of San Francisco and Sausalito behind. This place was full of tourists. C went up to the main building with L, Nancy, Damnation and Rebel, leaving K, Slo and Sky (under the aliases Kenzie, Seth and Scout) to tour the island on their own.

They walked all the way to the other side of the island, staring out from the point you should be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge. The winds there had turned to gales, the fog from the water still as solid as it had been two weeks previously. It seemed that San Francisco was immune to the effects of the approaching summer.

"Don't go too far, K," Slo warned. "You'll get lost in the fog."

"It's fine," she laughed. "I can find my way back. And I'm never going to fall. Look!" She jumped up onto the sharp rocks and pointed her toes. "I'm not even going to slip!"

"Be careful," he cautioned. "Come over here."

"It's odd," she said, not moving. "You can't even see the Wharf from here."

"I know," he admitted. "The weather here is pretty bad."

Sky didn't say anything. He went out to sit on the rocks closer to the water, studying the ripples intently. He looked dreadful – well, about as dreadful as he could look. He lowered himself down to the water's very edge, ignoring the sharp, icy temperature. He cupped water in his hands and splashed it over his face, breathing in.

A hand on his wrist stopped him taking more.

"Stop that," K snapped. "It's unsanitary. You'll get sick."

He looked at her for a long time, not speaking. Then he reached out and cupped the side of her face in his palm. Neither of them moved. K was too astonished to get up. Cold water from his hand trickled down the back of her neck, chilling her. Slo helped them both up, hating the tension between them.

"Come on, guys. I've been here before; I can show you around," he said hurriedly. "Besides, you don't want to waste your day off in the cold, do you?"

"Okay," K agreed. Quickly. Very quickly. She tore herself away from Sky and followed Slo up the slope towards the main building.

"If you look up at those old ruins, that's-"

Slo was cut off by the sound of a loud thud behind them.

K turned in shock to see Sky face-down on the ground, pale and unmoving.

"_Sky_!" she gasped, going to check his pulse. She knelt down beside him and looked up at Slo. "Slo, go get the others. We have to get him back to the mainland."

"K-"

"Just _go_!" she barked.

* * *

**Preview**

"Sky," C said softly, sitting on the end of his bed. "I need you to tell me something important. It might give us some more help in finding out what's wrong with you."

"What do you want from me?" he growled.

"I'm sorry, but we need your name."


	11. In My Arms

Rebel stared at the young man who had crumpled on Alcatraz Island and had been brought back to the Hilton earlier that day. It was evening now, and Sky was asleep in his own bed, occasionally twitching in his sleep. C had checked; he didn't have a fever, but he was cold, clammy and the aggressive moods he'd been put in over the last two weeks could be due to the sickness he was currently suffering with. It made about as much sense as everything else.

"He's been poisoned," Rebel said. "He must have been."

C shook her head. "This doesn't scream poison at me. I know poison. If it were poison, the chemical would have to be supplied regularly every day. He would eventually develop immunity to it. No…" She sighed. "This kind of reaction resembles withdrawal symptoms from a mood-altering drug."

"He's on drugs?" Nancy gaped at her.

"He _was _on drugs," C corrected her. "Withdrawal symptoms can start from one day after a lower dosage to weeks later. In his case, I think the latter is more likely."

"Um…" K spoke up. "The day we went to Sausalito, and on the plane – he was acting strangely then. Even stranger than normal, I mean. The drugs he was taking must have been consumed over a long period of time in large quantities to have such an immediate effect."

"I see," C said. "Thank you, K. For now, I think you had all better go relax and get some rest. You've had a bit of a dramatic day. If you go get some dinner downstairs, I'll join you later." C watched them leave and perched on the chair by the desk. His cold dark blue eyes flickered open. He scowled at her. "You were listening?"

"Some of the time," he said off-handedly. "So you think I'm some kind of junkie?"

"No," she disagreed. "I think you've been drugged for a very long time and now you are not consuming them anymore, causing your symptoms."

"You're wrong," he said hoarsely. "I've been taking them knowingly."

"You're lying to me."

"Yeah, I am. Good call." There was no humor in his voice. "So there's no hope for me, huh? I'm just gonna end up going crazy and feeling like shit all the time?"

Her expression neither confirmed nor denied it.

"Sky," C said softly, sitting on the end of his bed. "I need you to tell me something important. It might give us some more help in finding out what's wrong with you."

"What do you want from me?" he growled.

"I'm sorry, but we need your name."

He snorted. "So you can guys can have a gossip about my royally fucked-up life and all of the crap I've gotten involved in before?"

"No. So I can determine your medical records and find out which drug your body is currently dependent on. Your name and your past will be kept strictly confidential, between you and me. I won't say a word to them," she replied. "I promise."

"Promises can be broken."

"Only in times of dire need. So if you don't want to, in your words, 'end up going crazy and feeling like shit all the time', I think you had better tell me who you really are." He hesitated. "Come on, Sky. What can happen if you tell me will only be better than this."

He ran his fingers through his hair. "James Blue. I was born in Seattle, Washington, so you can look through their medical files."

"Thank you," C said, standing up. "Get some rest. You'll feel better if you sleep it off. The boys won't disturb you."

Sky frowned. "Why do I want to trust you? You're nothing like me."

She responded to this statement with a swift, warm smile. "Sometimes it's the people you least expect that you learn to trust the most."

**XXX**

C was typing into her laptop, using her and L's access into federal files to seek out James Blue's medical record. James Dorian Blue, born in Virginia Mason Hospital, Seattle, Washington, son of big-earning politician Charles Blue and his kindly wife of twenty-five years, Jody, had been proclaimed dead from a mugging gone wrong after fifteen years of life. James had two older brothers, Jared and Denton, both in law school, and a sister two years younger, Beth. From the outside, it looked like a perfectly respectable family, with no hiccups say for James's early death.

But he _wasn't _dead. And he couldn't have been proclaimed dead two years ago; he'd been sixteen then. So what had happened that his family had kept his existence so quiet?

She felt a familiar hand on her shoulder. "I wanted to apologize for what I said last night. It was uncalled-for. It's not your fault that the case isn't going quite as planned."

"I said worse things," she sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"It doesn't change the fact I love you," he said.

"I hoped it wouldn't."

"What are you up to now, then?" he asked. "James Blue?"

"It's Sky." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Why would a boy in a loving family like that be in a situation like this? Did you know the Blues told the world he was dead? They had all of his school friends, all of his relatives, even some of his teachers, go to the funeral. Why put on such a huge show? It was obvious his family loved him."

"Families can be complicated," L commented. "We should know that better than anyone, yet still the lengths some go to hide things still amaze us."

"Promise me if we had children that we wouldn't treat them this way," C mumbled.

"God, can you imagine us with children?" he laughed. "It would be a nightmare. Why would you raise children like this, with parents who bring danger to them like some sick kind of birthday gift?"

"Surely the parents could evade danger for them?" C suggested.

"What's gotten into you?" he sighed.

"Just promise me," she answered.

He rolled his eyes and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm going to go meet the rest of them in the restaurant if I can. Do you know where I put my wallet?"

She took a deep breath. He hadn't been really listening to the tone of her voice at all. He had no idea of the effect his words were having on her. "On the drinks cabinet, love."

"I'll get the others back by eleven," he told her. "See you."

"See you…"

L left the room, closing the door behind him. He stopped when he saw K walking down the corridor. She smiled politely to him in acknowledgement.

"What are you doing? Aren't you eating?" L checked.

"I have another headache. C left some painkillers in the boys' room earlier so Slo said I should go and get some then go back downstairs once I'm feeling up to eating," K explained. "Are you going now?"

"Yes, I am. Do you want me to tell them how long you'll be?"

"Please," she agreed. "I'll probably be ten minutes tops. And tell Slo if he eats that clam chowder, I won't go near him because fishy breath is disgusting."

"Duly noted," L chuckled. "Go on. There will most likely be a bottle of water on the side by the television in the boys' room."

"Thanks." She used the card key Slo had lent her and entered the room herself, noticing that the curtains were drawn and the lights had been switched off. She glanced cautiously over at Sky, not wanting to wake him up despite the fact he annoyed the crap out of her. She saw the small box of painkillers on the windowsill where she remembered them being. Just thinking of how her headache had started made her feel worse.

"_You fool! You are so _worthless_ you would trade half of your lifespan for something to make you the tiniest part more special?"_

She unscrewed the cap on the bottle of water and gulped some down to swallow the pill she placed on her tongue. She leant back against the table, sipping the water a little more. Sky wasn't half as bad when he couldn't speak, she'd admit that much. He couldn't attack her randomly when he was asleep either, quite a blessing, in her opinion. She smiled softly at the peaceful atmosphere.

"I think that maybe it would be a good idea for you to not stare at me."

**XXX**

So, James Blue had disappeared off the map shortly after his fifteenth birthday, dead to all who knew him by his real name. It was a year after his disappearance that he turned up again, still a secret. This time, he was incarcerated in an institution for juvenile delinquents – classed in Section C for offenders under the age of eighteen that had committed particularly severe crimes. It turned out that this James Blue had raped one girl, then raped and murdered six girls approximately his own age after attacking a man in his early thirties without provocation.

He had vanished from state care six months after his sixteenth birthday. If he returned to the authorities now, he would be placed in a prison for adults with sentence extended. For someone so angry and disturbed, James Blue displayed an abnormally high level of intelligence.

As for his health, there had never really been any problem say for when he'd been involved in fights in the juvenile institution – and even then, it hadn't been him getting hurt. According to officers' official reports on him, he had been a reasonably subdued inmate. However, there had been some particular incidents that had not been quite so pleasant for everyone concerned.

A psychiatrist by the name of Dr. Quentin had commented on James Blue's temperament: 'James exhibits the charm, civility, patience, intelligence and serenity of a professional man, say, a lawyer or a doctor, though there are undoubtedly problems that he has yet to deal with if he is to return to society. I of course refer to when he is not medicated regularly with fluvoxamine or any other type of antidepressant drug. An example of his failure to function efficiently without medication is the beating and near-fatal injuries inflicted by James on another inmate, Stuart Gerard, a six foot seven boy in the institution for a few counts of GBH, who recklessly made several insulting remarks concerning James's crimes.'

Frowning, C took a look at the photos of the injuries sustained by Stuart Gerard, flinching at how bloody, bruised and misaligned the boy's face was. It read in the medical report that he suffered severe blows to the crown of the cranium, causing skull breakage and internal hemorrhaging. Stuart Gerard's jaw had been fractured _and _dislocated, his nose broken in two different places and his left metacarpals reduced almost entirely to a dust-like consistency.

Quentin went on to say, 'I have spoken to James about the crimes he committed whilst on the outside, and he explained how he felt just before doing so. He says, "it's a rush for a second, that moment when you have control, and then when they start pushing you away, you get angry. You get so angry, and you can't stop yourself. It's the rejection part that triggers it. It's the hatred, like you will do anything to prove that you are worthy of attention. I don't know; maybe, if those girls I approached had said yes, or not panicked quite so much, they might still be alive and innocent today". James, unlike many patients, is able to come to terms with his condition: depression. Like he says, it is the rejection that concerns me about him.'

C exhaled slowly. She was glad nobody was in that room alone with Sky in his current state. They were all downstairs eating, unknowing that their associate was quite so unpredictable as his record showed. B or M must have seen his record at some point and kept him dosed up on the medication that he had required in the juvenile institution.

Thank goodness nobody was there. After all, the loathing from one inmate with one day lacking in medication had almost cost him a life. If someone were to say the wrong thing to him now, after two weeks free of antidepressants, she could only imagine how they would end up: damaged – or dead.

**XXX**

"I wasn't staring at you," K snapped. "I just happened to glance in your general direction when you woke up, which you mistook for my staring."

"I'm never mistaken."

"You're mistaken in this case, you dipshit. Isn't that perfectly obvious?" she shot back. "I don't care if you're feeling sick; I can still pummel you in a fight."

Sky laughed once, strained. He swung his legs out of bed, standing as he loomed over her. His entire body was tensed, coiled like a spring. His hands had curled into fists, his glare one of a predator seeking its prey. He bared his teeth at her threateningly. Her automatic reaction was to step back, only to find she couldn't because she was backed against a table.

"You're so interesting, K," he murmured. "If only you weren't such a bitch…"

"_What_?" she hissed. "Get away from me, pervert!"

His face darkened. "Pervert, huh…?"

His hand immediately sought her throat, his eyes blank.

"Get – off – me!" she gasped. "I – can't – breathe!"

"You're just like the others," he snarled. "Am I not good enough? Will I _never _be good enough?"

"For – _what_?" she choked out.

For the first time, she properly _looked _at him. He was so pale and drawn, but that was not what was worst about him. He looked like the sort of person you would never want to cross – because they had nothing to lose. People used to say that about her, and now she realized she did: she could lose her life so easily. She struggled for breath, yet had enough oxygen flowing to her brain to think about how to deal with this.

_Will I never be good enough?_

That cried out 'refusal' to her. That was probably what the others had done. Given it a chance saying no.

Instead of being just like the others, K gripped the wrist closest to her throat with both hands and pulled it down with as much strength as she could manage. She looked at him kindly, sadly, and put her hands on either side of his face. He was so surprised he didn't move to strangle her again. She pressed her forehead to his for a second, whispering throatily.

"Good enough for what?"

With that, she drew back and leant in once more to kiss him.

He did not go to choke her.

* * *

_WHOA. Aww... exploding from fluff overload..._

**Preview**

He scowled at her, rage blazing in his eyes. "I don't want you hanging around with him!"

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Because you will never be safe when you're around him!" he told her.

_3 guesses in each review as to who is speaking these immortal words!_

_C._


	12. Missing

Sky was back in his bed now, processing what had occurred. Never had he been kissed quite like that, with such an edge of fear that stirred something new within him. It was not quite control, not power or anger. It may have been guilt, though he was not quite certain. One moment the demonic rage that overtook him occasionally had been present, the next it had dissipated with acceptance, with kindness, with _sympathy_.

"_Give me the hurt and the pain."_

He shook his head. The overwhelming depression he had been trying not to confront for two years had struck him hard. It was this that had led to him clashing tongues with a girl he loathed. And she detested him also – she had told him so. She was honest about it at least. She had said it after she had kissed him. He had moved to confirm the acceptance she had offered him and she had frozen. Her hand had clutched her forehead as if it were causing her pain, then she had run from the room. He could have sworn he heard her crying.

"_Give me the hurt and the pain and the hate, Sky. Because although I can't stand you, nobody deserves this."_

What a joke.

Scowling into the darkness, he sat up, rising from bed and going to the bathroom for mouthwash. He wanted to swallow it, but decided that to settle for gargling it in his throat was enough. The only thing he required right now was to cleanse any part of his mouth that she had touched. It made him sick to think that he had been contaminated by L's successor.

Disgusting.

Once he had washed his mouth out, he proceeded to splash his face with water and clean each side with soap – where her hands had been. If this was the tactic she was going to use to break his composed mask, it was already working. It had agitated him to the point where he had to stare at his ghostly-white, dripping face in the mirror, reminding himself that to murder her at this point would not be diplomatic. Droplets of water clung to the front of his hair. He wiped them away.

He decided to crash for a while, but found he could not sleep. It was not so easy now he had so much to think about. He reached across to the cell phone he'd put down on the drawers and scrolled down the contacts until he reached the 'B's. If anything, he needed to talk to his mentor and dispel the confusion. He had to set his mind on the plan.

"Sky?" Beyond sighed. "What is it now? You know it's like, four o'clock in the morning here?"

"You don't give a shit," Sky said, his voice slightly throaty. That might have been partially because he'd gargled almost half a bottle of Corsodyl, but that possibility seemed insignificant at the present. "You don't sleep much anyway."

"Did it occur to you that this might be the time I manage to catch some unnecessary beauty sleep?"

"Yes. But your protégé wanted to talk to you, so shut it and listen-"

"Oh, no, you _did not_ just say that to me-"

"What the hell have you been watching?" Sky snapped, exasperated. "'Mean Girls' again?"

"That's irrelevant. What's eating you, Sky? I hope it's not something big and hairy and bloodthirsty with fangs and the Twilight Saga-"

"Beyond, are you drunk?"

"Nah… you can't get drunk on Disaronno and Coke, right?"

_Oh for the love of – _"Sure you can't."

"Okay, so what's wrong?"

"I just wanted to talk about what you know about K, L's number one," Sky muttered. "You know, if you're coherent enough to remember who that is."

B was quiet for a little while. "I was called into an investigation two years ago, before they shoved my ass back in jail, and they told me to confirm something for them. They knew what I could do and apparently it was something I was unique for doing. I wondered if they wanted me to do something really difficult, but they told me to just look at that girl, K, or whatever her name was… let me think… Keira Yagami-Lawliet, that was it."

"Keira," Sky repeated. Yes. That suited her. "Why did they want you to look at her?"

"You see, that was the weird thing. You know how I see names and lifespans? I couldn't see her lifespan. She didn't have one. L explained to me that it was because she had a Death Note, or something like that. You write someone's name down whilst picturing their face and they die of a heart attack if they don't specify the death." He cleared his throat. "So she had one of these things, a Death thingamajig, and she was dangerous at the time, you know."

"_I've killed people. I could easily kill you."_

Sky's eyes widened.

"Sky? You still there?"

"She… thank you, Beyond." He snapped the phone shut, ending the call. He breathed in sharply as the door opened and C entered, a bottle in her hand. Wordlessly, she put the bottle down on his bedside table. "What's that?"

She folded her arms. "Prozac. When you need it, take it. We can ease you off them if you want, but you had better be prepared to deal with some mild side effects for a little time. Take one now, only one. Here's some water." She went to give him the bottle of water from the side. There wasn't much left in it.

He looked at the bottle hesitantly, not wanting to touch where K's lips had touched again. He had little choice and swallowed it down quickly.

"You'll be your normal, cheerful self in ten minutes. Get dressed into some decent clothes and come downstairs to get some dinner."

"Thank you."

"It's no problem. It's exactly what I'd do for any of the Wammy's kids in your position."

**XXX**

Just minutes before Sky had gone into the bathroom, K had escaped the room, sinking against the door once she'd closed it behind her. Her head was hurting her, heavy and throbbing. She couldn't help it; the pain brought tears to her eyes, leaving her curled up by the door with her breaths coming in short, shaky little gasps. She felt a hand on her shoulder and followed it up to the face of Damnation. He gaped at her for a second, then helped her up and led her into her room so they could talk.

She remembered what had triggered her running out.

"_In my books, being kissed by somebody you do not like is assault."_

She sat down on her bed and rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of any evidence that tears had been spilled. Damnation had never seen her so broken up. In fact, this was the first time he had ever seen her cry, even when she was tiny. Awkwardly, he patted her back. That's when he saw angry red marks mixed with already blooming bruises on her neck.

"K," he whispered. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing," she muttered. "I'm fine."

"It was Sky, wasn't it?" he said. "It's all right, K, you can tell me."

K closed her eyes and bowed her head. Damnation breathed out steadily, lowering his voice. He had enough confirmation.

"Slo's going to kill him." He thought it through again, envisioning their friend's inevitable reaction. "He's going to _actually _kill him." He traced her bruises carefully and whistled quietly. "What exactly did he do?"

"Damnation," she mumbled, "in those six months I don't remember, what was I like?"

This was an unexpected question. He frowned at her, trying to figure out why she was asking. The desperation in her eyes was without a doubt scarier than seeing her cry. He opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out. He hesitated, thinking about it properly.

"You were, to put it simply, a bit of a bitch," he admitted. "But better than you had been. You were trying to be nice for the first time, and that wasn't too bad. I don't believe you thought much of me then. You were really close to Slo, Leo and… Hamlet… at the time. You started trying, like you cared about your own existence. You showed you were really, truly smart. Uh… you were never vulnerable. Ever. Um… oh, yeah, you used to go and sit with Hamlet and have talks with him, and we never knew what they were about. And… um…"

"You never thought anything was wrong with me?" she asked.

"I _always _thought you had something wrong with you," he chuckled without humor. "You had serious anti-L issues."

"That was what I was afraid of…" she murmured.

"So what _did _Sky do to you?" he checked.

"It wasn't Sky," she said, mostly to herself. "It was me. It was my fault. If I hadn't… but… it's too late now. All of those people…" The tears had started again, only this time, she wasn't looking at Damnation. She was staring straight ahead, horrified, as if seeing something that wasn't really there.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for what Sky did," Damnation said quickly. "And yes, I know it's sad, all those girls that he murdered, but it wasn't your fault then either. Stop beating yourself up about it-"

"My head _hurts_," she gasped through tears. "Make it stop…"

"He hit your head too?" Damnation said, mortified. "Aw, shit… uh… I'd better go speak to-"

The door opened, revealing Slo standing there. His expression morphed from surprise to confusion to horror. He hurried over to her, kneeling down in front of her and taking her hands in his own. He glanced up at Damnation.

"What happened to her?" he asked.

"I don't know much… Sky-" He was cut off by Slo's infuriated expression. He could see the marks on her throat.

He scowled at her, rage blazing in his eyes. "I don't want you hanging around with him!"

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Because you will never be safe when you're around him!" he told her. "What did he do to you?"

"It wasn't his fault..."

"He…" He looked straight into K's blank, staring eyes. "_What did he do to you_?"

"What did _I _do?" she hissed.

He stopped. "What?"

"Damnation, get out," K whispered.

"Huh-?"

"_Get out_. Now. Please." She watched as he got up and left the room, completely and utterly bewildered. She tried to glare at Slo, yet did not manage it, for she was still crying. "What did I do? You know. I know you know."

"K," he sighed, "it'll be okay. We can sort this thing with Sky out; I'll talk to L or C and we'll-"

"Stop lying to me, Slo," she choked out. "I did something _awful_ when I was fifteen, and I want to have somebody say it out loud."

"You… figured it out."

K nodded, tears streaking her face. "Tell me the truth. Who was I _really _two years ago?"

Slo moved forward to put his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head in a brotherly manner and whispered the word that she knew she needed to hear.

"Kira."

"_It's true. I am Kira."_

**XXX**

L and C examined the files again. A twelve-year-old strangled and partially cannibalized. A twenty-two-year-old strangled and raped. A sixteen-year-old poisoned and stabbed. A forty-four-year-old stabbed. What linked them all? Being murdered at around the same time. That was it. Being stabbed in San Francisco, Sausalito… the murders, oddly, were getting further and further away from the original crime scene.

"There's something here," C gasped. "Why didn't we notice it before? Look – look at Ella Dockery's picture! The photo of her on the crime scene!"

"I thought we agreed nothing was done to her body-"

"And we were right; nothing was done to her _body_, but look at her feet, and then look at the crime scene pictures again!"

"Her feet…?" He scanned the pictures she passed to him. He smiled. "I see what you mean. Only one shoe is worn, and… ah, yes, the shoe could not be carelessly kicked off or anything of that sort because it is not on the crime scene." He smiled at her. "Nice work."

"I learned from the best. Don't let that go to your head."

"Now _there's _a challenge."

"So what does it mean – taking one of her shoes?"

"Look at the rest of the pictures; maybe we're missing something there," L said. He looked through them and shook his head. "None of the others had their shoes stolen or anything like that."

"What's that in Deanne Hounsfield's hand?"

"Well, she was poisoned, so it's probably what she was poisoned _with_-"

"So why didn't they take that into evidence and catalogue it?"

"I think we need to have a word with Superintendent Cheng-"

The door opened and K entered, her eyes bloodshot and her face pale. C stood up, shocked, and went to see if she was all right. The girl turned her face away from her and sat down on the bed.

"I want to know everything," she said, her voice cracking. "I want to know everything about me being Kira."

The two adults closed the door, put their work down and sat either side of their niece, preparing themselves for what they thought would never happen.

"Where do you want us to start?" C asked.

* * *

**Preview**

"You sound like you've had a tough week," he chuckled. "You want me to buy you a drink?"

"I'm not drinking," she muttered. "I just needed some space before I leave."

"Where are you going?"

"LA."

"Oh, sorry," he laughed quickly. "How rude of me... my name's Tony. What's yours?"


	13. I Know How To Say

Slo breathed out in one long _whoosh _as he closed the door to his room behind him. He was glad he had all of the problems about keeping K's past secret from her behind him. And he would be there to help her, just as he'd promised her when she'd passed out all those years ago. It didn't scare him. He tried not to think about Sky and what he'd done to her. He'd deal with him later. That was a guarantee.

Rebel sat in the room by the window. She'd been waiting for him, he noticed. He wasn't sure why. Rain began to spatter the glass, trickling down and shadowing her face. He smiled. "Are you all right over there?"

"I wanted to talk to you," she said. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Come on." She gestured to the chair closest to the window. "I was wondering if you thought about me when I was gone. When _you _were gone."

"Every year," he admitted. "It would get to my birthday, or yours, and I'd think, 'what is she doing now'? I always imagined you'd end up some great doctor or lawyer or… I don't know…"

"Criminal?" she sighed. "I know I disappointed you. Sorry about that."

"What?" he laughed. "You never disappointed me! Don't ever think that, Rebs; you still haven't disappointed me. No, look at me. Look at me." He ruffled her hair affectionately. "You could _never _disappoint me. Honestly, when I realized it was you in that gym, my heart could have burst with pride. You found me again."

"I didn't have any help from _you_."

He blinked. "Say again?"

"Because of _you_, I lived in fear of being abandoned by everyone I ever depended on. And I still live in that same fear," she hissed. "Can't you even apologize? Or is that impossible with a guy like you?"

He gaped at her, completely stunned. "Rebel, I…"

"And then you start leading me on!" she snapped. "Like I'm some stupid hooker! I know you have a girlfriend, so what's with all the cute smiles and topless hugs and joking around like everything's as it used to be?"

"Rebel," he sighed, "I've not been trying to flirt with you. I'm quite happy with Cal, and she's been extremely understanding of you coming back after all this time. Please, just… don't start. I love you like a best friend. You've got to understand I've made my decision."

Rebel stared at him. "I see… thank you for clarifying on that point."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she spat. "I'll see you later. The others told me to get you to start to pack up. We're going out to Los Angeles tomorrow."

Leaving him dumbstruck, Rebel rose from her seat by the window and walked out of the door, slamming it behind her.

**XXX**

"_Ha! You couldn't kill an insect! You don't have it in you."_

This made her laugh a bit now. She didn't need to desperately worry about her past anymore now; she knew the truth, and she would work her way through it with the others' help. She wasn't Kira anymore. She smiled as she ran her fingers through her hair, observing her reflection's actions in the mirror, then stopped and growled in frustration. Rebel was right. Her hair was going black underneath, and by the looks of things, it was spreading to the top layers too.

"Oh, for God's sake…" she muttered.

She had decided on a tactic now. If Sky was going to try to disarm her with pleasantries and thank you-s, then she would be so much worse. She would try to get on well with him, and then she would bring him down. She felt nothing but nausea when she thought of him, and she was sure she would feel exactly that way later, when she became part of an L versus B confrontation. Already, she was wearing something a little less like her.

Her head turned to the sound of Nancy calling her out into the corridor. She followed and smiled at Nancy's delighted reaction.

"Oh, _c'est parfait_!" she squealed, clapping her hands together excitedly. "We'd better get downstairs. I'm really looking forward to this! Fisherman's Wharf will be so much fun!"

Damnation's face was childishly eager, as cheerful as he always was to see Nancy in any place. Slo was trying to get Rebel's attention and failing – good God, that girl was stubborn, but she was clever. Ignoring Slo so he would ask her for attention was an intelligent way of thinking. K had figured out that the San Franciscan was a sociopath due to her deliberate manner of going about things. Everything this girl did was a show: from smiling and flicking her hair back to drinking a glass of water.

K shook her head and looked up at Sky. His face was blank for a second before he smirked at her. "You dress up for me, sweetie?"

It all happened very quickly after that. One second Slo was talking to Rebel, the next his expression had turned icy and his fist was thrown out in the general direction of Sky's head. It was as if they had rehearsed it; Sky ducked out of the way and caught him in a headlock. He chuckled darkly.

"Slo, my friend," he sneered, "the last guy who tried that ended up being fed through a straw, so I really wouldn't." He glanced at K. "So, gorgeous, d'you dress up for me?"

Normally, she would have recoiled, folded her arms and turned away from him – but that was without her latest plan. Instead, she took a few steps towards him, smiling, and cupped his face in her palm, kissing his cheek.

"Naturally," she responded. "Mm. A little rough around the edges. I'd shave later."

She laughed, heading for Slo this time. She disengaged him from Sky's grip, since he was still so dumbstruck he had not moved. Slo was cracking up one minute later with her and Damnation as they traveled together on their way to Fisherman's Wharf. Slo patted her on the back in approval.

"He was completely stunned."

"Of course he was," she shot back. "But I wanted to ask you for a favor…"

"Yes?"  
"Can you teach me… to… um…?"

"This sounds unlike you, stammering," Slo said. "What's so awkward that you can't even ask me properly?"

K whispered something in his ear that she didn't mean for Damnation to hear. Both boys cracked up laughing and put their arms around the girl's shoulders.

"Oh, man," Damnation sniggered, "that guy won't know what hit him."

**XXX**

Tony gradually sank further into his seat throughout the evening, drinking up the last remnants of his Jack Daniel's from his glass. He could hear 'Let's Dance' by David Bowie playing on the speakers in each corner of the bar. He had just finished scraping the last paycheck he could get from the hotel, and now he rather fancied squandering it on a blank mind. He breathed in deeply and when he let it go, he dropped his forehead to the table surface.

He remembered what his sister had said to him, and he _might _have listened to her, but she'd been the one who'd disappeared without telling him where she was going. He'd had to live on wondering if he still was obliged to look after her as he'd done since he was sixteen years old. He stood up, going to pay his tabs, when a young woman with light brown hair sat down at the bar. She looked like she wanted to just fall apart. She was looking at something on her phone.

Tony smiled and went to sit next to her.

"You know, there are some things that alcohol doesn't cure," he said.

"That's nice to know," she answered. "And I would care, but I don't particularly enjoy talking to strangers after trying to deal with six teenagers, okay?"

"You sound like you've had a tough week," he chuckled. "You want me to buy you a drink?"

"I'm not drinking," she muttered. "I just needed some space before I leave."

"Where are you going?"

"LA."

"Oh, sorry," he laughed quickly. "How rude of me... my name's Tony. What's yours?"

She laughed too. She had a nice laugh, but an American accent with a state he couldn't quite place. She put her phone back in her bag. It was strange to see her mood change so quickly. It reminded him of his sister in that respect. She looked down at her lap for a moment, as if thinking about how to phrase her musings.

"Is this how you spend your Saturday nights?" she asked. "Talking to weird women in bars?"

"Not usually," he admitted. "Up until recently, I was either making beds here in San Francisco or teaching in Los Angeles, as a matter of fact."

"Teaching. Nice. I do a little teaching myself," she admitted, "hence the teenagers."

"So we have something in common," he pointed out.

"Here's something I bet we don't have in common," she said. "I'm taken, and I'm not looking for a quick lay." When his smile didn't fade, she elaborated. "I have a boyfriend."

"So do I," he joked.

"I bet you do, with those boots," she laughed. "Go-go boots? That's so seventies I want to vomit."

"I'm kidding," he grinned. "But what's wrong with the boots? Having lights in the heel is very popular even nowadays."

"Yeah, in kids' sneakers when they're about five." She shook her head. "Ugh, no, they're so wrong. Please tell me, for your sake, that they don't go over the knee."

"Mm… how far would you go to find out?"

"I told you I have a boyfriend."

"Nobody's perfect."

"I'm here on business."

"So am I."

She folded her arms. "I'm not your average girl."

"I wouldn't be talking to you if you were."

"I could kick your ass in a fight."

"I think you probably could."

"That doesn't emasculate you in any shape or form?" she said disbelievingly.

"Honey, I wear go-go boots. I don't think anything you do could possibly emasculate me further than I have done already," he shrugged.

"I have four children."

"No, you don't."

"You're right. I don't. But the point still stands. I'm not going to date you, or even just sleep with you. I'm not that type," she said firmly. She studied him intently for a second. "What happened to you?"

"W-what?" he gasped. She was talking like she had known him before.

"Something changed you. You're not always like this. My guess is someone hurt you, really, really badly after you'd helped them, or were good to them. And I'm so sorry that it's like that for you, but I'm not giving up what I have. Not even for someone as funnily cute as you are." She stood up and pulled her bag onto her shoulder. "See you, Tony. And thank you for the offer of the drink."

"This guy must mean a lot to you," Tony sighed. "He's lucky."

"He has no idea," she breathed. "But yes, he does mean a lot to me."

"What was your name?"

She smiled. "Ana."

"It's a nice name. Goodnight, Ana."

"Goodnight, Tony," she said genially. "Have a nice life."

As 'Ana' left, she couldn't help but wonder where she'd seen somebody who looked like Tony before. And as she left, Tony rested his chin on his fist and chuckled to himself. He hadn't thought about himself that way.

**XXX**

L had just finished putting all the files into the case and had already called for some hire cars, one for him to drive and one for Slo. If they got the six others into either of the two cars they would be able to use the hire cars for different destinations. C had said she would go in the car with L, Sky and K. Nancy, Damnation, Slo and Rebel would be in the other car.

L checked his phone. He'd called Jenna about an hour to let her know where they would be staying once they got to Los Angeles. She'd texted him back since then:

**I got a surprise for y'all when you get here! J x**

"C, look at this," L said, frowning. "Any ideas?"

"Nope…" She bit her lip in concentration. "Did she buy a new truck or something?"

"No idea," he sighed. "No one can predict anything that Jenna does."

"We did. That's how we caught her."

"Yes, but she has changed a lot since we arrested her for armed robbery."

C laughed. "You can say that again."

"Yes, but she has-"

"I was joking. We'll get on the road tomorrow."

L nodded and went into the bathroom.

C zipped up her suitcase. "You know, I was thinking that we should-"

"C, what is this doing in here?" L called in a strained voice.

* * *

_Poll results so far to 'What are your top 4 pairings in "Beyond's House"?' are:_

_L x C - 25%_

_Sky x K - 22%_

_Slo x Rebel - 11%_

_Damnation x Nancy - 11%_

_Mello x Scarlett - 7%_

_B x M - 7%_

_Slo x Callie - 3%_

_Matt x M - 3%_

_Night x Io - 3%_

_L x Tanya - 0%_

_Tony x C - 0%_

**Preview**

Sky's eyes widened before he scowled. "Oh, for God's sake. I should have known..."

Slo elbowed him in the ribs sharply. "What the hell is your problem? If you don't want to be here with her, then you should just say it-"

"Keep out of it, Lewis. You have no idea what this feels like." Slo stared at him for a few seconds, shocked.

"What?"


	14. He Lives In You

L walked out of the bathroom and handed her the photos of the death of Kristin Buckley. The girl was sprawled, broken and bloody, in the street, the blood barely noticeable spattering her red hooded sweater and the bite mark on her hand just about visible. The cause of death, strangulation, had been confirmed after a full post-mortem.

"It would have been an absolute nightmare if we'd left this file behind," L pointed out as C breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "One of the staff might have seen it. I can only imagine how badly that might have gone." He smiled. "Panic over. At least it's not some major problem like you being pregnant or anything. How crazy would that have been?"

"Yeah, crazy," she agreed, inwardly cringing. "Really crazy."

"Let's get some rest," L suggested. They curled up under the covers and C bit her lip as he chuckled. "Pregnant… silly…"

**XXX**

"For God's sake, you can't fucking drive!" C snapped. "I said go _right _at that last turn off and now we're stuck in this bloody traffic jam!"

"I'm not wrong; you just can't read a map!" L protested.

"If we'd stopped and asked for directions-"

"We don't need directions – we have a _map_!" he snapped. "What is it with you women and stopping for directions?"

"What is it with you men and not wanting to?" she sighed, almost resorting to systematically hitting her head repeatedly against the dashboard. "Even if you don't want to stop and ask for directions and you _don't _trust an ex-GCSE Geography student's map-reading skills, then you could have brought along the SatNav."

"I'm not listening to that voice," he insisted firmly. "It is endlessly irritating."

"And why?" she demanded. "Don't say it's because she's a-"

L stared straight out of the windscreen, trying to appear innocent.

"It's because she's a woman!" C choked out. "You sexist bastard!"

"It's not because of her gender," he disagreed. "It's because you women… you can't…"

"Can't what?"

"You can't… you can't drive."

C gaped at him in complete disbelief. "We're stuck in a traffic jam. Who's at the wheel?"

"Yes, but I am not the cause of the traffic jam, so that is not my problem," he said. "And you know the reason women should not drive – _ever_?"

"Oh, go ahead, oh Great One, enlighten me by imparting your ever-so-much valued wisdom," she muttered. "You prick."

"That accident up there is why they shouldn't drive," he said.

"What?"

"That accident was definitely a woman's fault."

"Get out of the car," she replied coolly. "Just get out."

"I'm driving-"

"The car is not moving, so technically, you're not driving. Get out," she said, grinning. "Go get into Slo's car."

"Hang on-"

"Honey, I love you, but I'm going to hit you in a sec so just shut up for a while," C breathed.

"How long is a while?"

She sighed. "Ten minutes, L. I need you to shut up for ten measly minutes."

"Okay."

Sky cracked up laughing in the back seat. "How are you two _not _married yet? This is exactly what my parents were like when they were dealing with a long journey."

Neither adult answered him, looking straight ahead. It was almost as if their nerves would snap, burn and disintegrate if they turned around to look at him. K rolled her eyes. She was regretting her newly devised tactic already. C was the one to respond serenely, with just the right undertone of menace.

"Sky, I think it's best if you stay quiet. Okay?"

"That's scary," Sky admitted, "because that's almost exactly like my mom."

**XXX**

"Welcome to Los Angeles, guys! How did your journey go?" Jenna asked, hugging C. "You look frazzled, bless your heart. I know, L can't navigate for shit. I wanted to meet you outside my apartment because of that surprise I mentioned in my text. It's pretty big."

The eight followed her inside and waited in anticipation as she slotted the key into the lock of her apartment front door. Once inside, L's jaw dropped in utter astonishment.

Four people were seated on the sofa all dressed very oddly. One dark-haired woman was wearing huge dark glasses despite being inside, and donned a mink coat. A woman in a yellow raincoat with bubblegum-pink curled hair waved eagerly at the visitors from her place beside a long, lanky man in a trench coat with a massive, Cheshire-cat grin and circular spectacles. The last person that caught their attention was a man that donned violet-colored clothing and possessed silvery-blonde hair that fell in a veil down to his lower back.

"Irina," L choked out. "Bess. Ludo. Flint."

"Hey there, big guy," pink-haired Bess greeted him. She may have had a hyperactivity disorder; she kept fidgeting. "Long time, no see."

"You look a little different to what the TV says," Ludo grinned. He sounded Australian. "You're not quite so… letter-shaped."

"No doubt I'm better than Matt now," Irina murmured, removing her dark glasses to show heavily made-up brown eyes. She could have been Swedish – her accent suited that of a Swede.

"What are all of you _doing_ here?" L whispered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Flint asked, standing. He was very tall and thin – maybe six foot seven. "We're here to help you. We may not have stayed in line, but we want to make a difference now."

"Gives us something to do," Irina interjected.

A smile spread across C's face. "You're all ex-Wammy's."

"Not just _any_ Wammy's kids, sweetheart," Ludo said. "First generation."

"The first ever Wammy's kids," C repeated. "Excellent."

"Welcome to the team, love," Ludo greeted her. "Can we meet the rest of the entourage?"

"Of course," C said brightly. "Come on through, guys."

"I'm Slo," Slo said. He shook hands with Ludo, who was obviously more of a leader than the others. "Sophisticated Little One. I'm the current second-in-line."

"Damnation," Damnation introduced himself. "Sixth-in-line."

"My old position," Irina said. "Nice to meet you, Damnation."

K glanced back at L, who nodded.

"I'm K," she said hesitantly. "I'm Wammy's current number one."

Flint looked between L and C wryly. "I see."

"Rin's daughter," L explained shortly.

"Rin's?" Flint murmured. "How… interesting." He turned to K. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"You look a lot like your mom," he said. "Who's your dad?"

They had discussed this just the night before. They had agreed on a policy concerning K's family: no more secrets.

"The First Kira," she said boldly.

There was an undoubtedly a sharp intake of breath at the statement, yet all of them managed to recover quickly – Sky allowed himself a quick smirk, then made his face neutral again, deciding that to permit himself smugness or triumph could boost his self-confidence too much. He was not to become complacent.

"Who are these ones?" Bess asked, gleeful about getting to know new people in any situation.

"Nancy," Nancy bounced forward to greet Bess. "I'm third-in-line for being M's protégé."

"Mello?" Flint frowned.

"No, M is one of my oldest friends. She broke Beyond Birthday out of prison and now each have a line of successors of their own," C explained briefly. Her expression was calm, as was her tone, and it was her nonchalance that helped to deal with the severity of the circumstances. If she was being casual about it, it was probably not too much to worry about.

"I'm Rebel," Rebel sighed. "I'm M's first-in-line."

"What about you at the back?" asked Flint.

"My name's Sky. I'm the successor to Beyond Birthday," Sky told him coldly. Flint shivered involuntarily. "Oh, so you don't trust me now? I didn't think so."

"Hey, hey," Jenna snapped. "No fighting. We're going to need everybody for what's going on tonight. One of our suspects, Ella Dockery's father, is holding a formal gathering in central Los Angeles. We need to keep an eye on who the visitors are and if they're in on Ella's murder. I don't want anything going wrong."

"Who's infiltrating?" C asked.

"My thoughts were that the youngest go in," Jenna answered. "The younger the visitors, the less suspicious things look. Ludo has been kind enough to forge invitations for you so you can get in at the door. Irina has hacked into the guest list and added you. Flint will be in a van outside as an evacuation caution. C, I understand you can ride a motorbike."

C nodded.

"If you can take the one I have in the garage and be ready to take one person if it is called for and Flint's van is too full. You can help with security. There are suitable weapons in the kitchen. I'll get them for you in a second. As for you, L, it would be helpful if you were on surveillance. You'll be in the van with Flint communicating with the ones doing the hands-on improvisation." She folded her arms. "Bess is on waitress-duty and Ludo is indoors security to make sure things don't get too out of control."

"We understand," K spoke on the five others' behalf. "Where do you want us to start?"

"Getting changed might be a good idea," Jenna told her. "Girls, follow Bess. Boys, follow Ludo. C, those weapons…"

**XXX**

One of the most amazing things about Los Angeles is the breathtaking skyline at night. Glittering lights penetrate the darkness and makes even a not so savory area of the city sparkle and seem as if it is another Beverly Hills. The beauty is most noticeable in the centre of the city, where the newly formed team where preparing to head toward.

Damnation tugged at his bow tie. "Ugh, I'm not used to these."

"Suck it up," Slo advised. "And stop fiddling with it or it'll fall apart."

"Duly noted," Damnation muttered. "Stupid bow ties. Who came up with these ridiculous combination?" He scratched his head. "You're awfully quiet, Sky."

"I just don't see the need to talk as much as you do."

"Sure, sure…" Damnation sighed impatiently. "When are the other three getting here already?"

"Damnation, you clearly don't understand girls. They talk about going out for a long time and then they can't decide what to wear. This is pretty stupid considering the amount of time they designate to discussing with their friends about what to wear. Then there's their makeup and hair and God knows what," Sky interjected.

"How do you know so much about this, anyway?" Slo asked.

"I had a little sister, back then," Sky muttered. "She was thirteen the last time I saw her. You know, at my own funeral."

The boys blinked at him when Slo felt someone tap his shoulder. Rebel smiled at him from her emerald-green silk sleeveless gown. Her brown hair had been tied up into an elegant knot, most likely by Jenna or Irina. He hooked his arm in hers and waved to Nancy, who was making her towards them in a lacy black number with her blonde hair crimped and reaching past her shoulders. Damnation looked particularly pleased with himself, glad he'd tied his hair in a slightly neater ponytail than normal.

"What's K doing? Putting on jeans and a leather jacket?" Sky grumbled.

"Nothing wrong with jeans and a leather jacket," C told him, motorbike helmet tucked under her arm. "And I wouldn't be quite so pessimistic. Both Slo and Damnation could tell you that even K can dress up nicely when she wants."

"'When she wants'," Slo chuckled. "Rarely."

Sky shook his head and turned towards the door. K entered from there in a black halter-neck dress, a slit revealing a long, white leg. Her hair (which had been growing out) had been tucked around her throat and curled into waves so that it fell over one shoulder. Now her being pale was not quite so unappealing. It contrasted with the vividness of her hair color and the darkness of her eyes. Sky's expression was blank for a moment in astonishment.

He began to smile at her. "We'd just about given up on you."

"I gave up on you a long while back," she mumbled, looking him straight in the eyes. "My decision makes more sense, I think."

"You know, I'm seriously tempted to agree with you," he said. He hooked his arm around her own.

Damnation nudged Nancy, grinning as she gestured to them and silently applauded. This was one of the first conversations they'd had without arguing.

"We'd better get going, then," C said quickly. "It starts at eight-thirty."

**XXX**

Once in the room that was illuminated by glowing chandeliers, they spread their way out in pairs. Slo and Sky pretended to go order drinks and Nancy and Damnation went off to find a secluded area that they could communicate better with a stronger signal on their earpieces whilst Rebel and K went around greeting party guests, each of them making a mental note as to who they were.

"They're doing well, aren't they?" Slo commented as they surveyed the hall. "It seems that the girls have all made friends."

"I'm not surprised. They have a lot in common," Sky agreed. "I think they just know what they need to do and get on with it."

"K's like that."

"I wouldn't know."

"Despite what you did to her, I do think K is just your type-"

That was when two people caught Sky's eye. In a matter of his seconds, his personality went from genial and likeable to dark and reflective. He slammed his drink down on the bar, lucky not to smash it. They did not see him.

Sky's eyes widened before he scowled. "Oh, for God's sake. I should have known..."

Slo elbowed him in the ribs sharply. "What the hell is your problem? If you don't want to be here with her, then you should just say it-"

"Keep out of it, Lewis. You have no idea what this feels like."

Slo stared at him for a few seconds, shocked. "What?"

"I didn't realize before…"

"Have you told _her_ this?" Slo gaped at him.

"She knows everything," Sky said icily. "For the love of all things bloodstained… why did _they _have to come here?"

"Wait, rewind. Say again? Are we still talking about K?"

"No!" he barked. "Keep up! This is obviously a gathering for those who have lost a child through 'violent crime'. You see those people over there?" Slo nodded. "Those… _people_… are my parents."

* * *

_ A very happy birthday to M (12 November)! Hope you enjoyed yourself!_

**Preview**

Nancy gasped in horror and recoiled from the light of the chandeliers. She curled up in Damnation's arms for a second, her expression pained. She seemed truly frightened of something, something that she didn't quite want to confront yet. After all, it had been almost two years. Even with blonde hair instead of dark and blue eyes instead of brown, might they still recognize her?

"_Maman_," she whispered. _"Papa."_


	15. Sway

The man on the left, now he thought about it, did seem rather familiar. It was most likely from those irritating political TV commercials, the ones that advertised voting for Charles Blue – to 'chase away those economic blues'. Beside him stood a small, willowy woman with black hair and blue eyes: Sky's trademark characteristics. He had evidently inherited his traits from his mother, Jody, yet the height from his formidable, strict-looking father. A normal but talented boy from a middle-class family had become a serial killer's successor.

Behind them followed a girl in her mid-teens with brown hair that cascaded in curls down her back and daring blue eyes. Even if Sky had never cared much for his older brothers, Jared and Denton, he had obviously loved his little sister Beth much, much more. He bit his lip, his expression remorseful. He looked like he might just grab her and run, sickened that his father was dragging his sister along for a hell-ride.

"He pretends he lost his son to violent crime," Sky muttered, "of course my dad's here."

"Why did he do that?" Slo asked.

"Pride at first," Sky admitted. "Then shame. Shame at everything. I don't even want to look at him."

"But you keep staring at him."

"It's sort of like a car crash," he answered. "You can't stop looking."

"Well, be careful not to do anything stupid-" He was cut off by K and Rebel greeting the couple. "Oh shit."

The two boys watched their friends shake hands and smile at Sky's parents, waving politely to Beth. Both rushed forward and went to lead the girls away from them. Sky suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder whilst he still had an arm around K's shoulders. He turned sharply and Charles Blue froze for a second, petrified.

"James," he whispered.

"Hello there, _Dad_," he shot back. "It's been a while. Three years, actually."

"Dad, what's going on?" squeaked Beth from behind her mother.

"How are you _here_?" Charles hissed in an undertone. "You're supposed to be in a high-security _prison_."

"Those things are too easy to break out of nowadays," Sky laughed. "I guess that things get boring, and eventually you just want to leave. I might as well have walked out through the front gates for how simple it was and for how much they cared. It was like wrapping your hands around someone's throat. You can choose whether to regret it or not afterwards-"

"Hold your tongue!" Charles snapped. "I don't want to hear anything about what you did! Did you blackmail this poor sweet girl to go with you too?"

This got K's blood boiling. As if she could be blackmailed by someone like Sky to do _anything_. Besides, it wasn't as if the politician Charles Blue should care one bit about a British girl like her; neither of her parents had been American, anyway. Scowling, she snaked an arm around Sky's waist.

"This arrangement was totally voluntary," she said defensively. "James and I actually get on _very well._"

Sky had not been expecting this much support from her. He smirked at his particularly religious parents' reaction. He heard Beth giggle and winked at her.

"You're a bad influence on your sister, James," Sky's mother Jody scolded.

"Admitting I'm your son now, are you, Mom?" Sky remarked. He arched an eyebrow. "It's progress. Now all you need to do is make sure you don't lie to the public. That could messily. Are Jared and Denton here too?"

"No," Charles said too quickly.

K stepped forward, away from Sky. "You don't want to lie further, do you, Mr. Blue?"

"Are you threatening me?" he hissed.

"It's a question, not a threat. I could make it a threat if you wanted," she sighed.

"How dare you?" he spluttered.

"I dare," she growled, "because no truly loving, halfway decent parent gives up their child willingly without regretting it. Take this from somebody who knows what it's like and think about how much you really care for your son. Have a good evening, Mr. Blue."

Sky caught K's wrist and spun her into him so he could kiss her with all the emotion he could manage. Although Charles and Jody Blue appeared disgusted with their contact, Beth smiled and silently clapped at the image.

'_You're falling for me so easily,'_ was Sky's thought track, unaware of K's.

'_I'm going to make you wish you were dead.'_

"Thank you," he whispered to her. "For now, I think we'd better go find our prime suspect. Shall we?"

"You're getting into the detective work, aren't you?" she smiled.

"Well, B was going to be a detective originally, wasn't he?" Sky reminded her. He threaded his fingers through hers and the two set off in search of Ella Dockery's father.

**XXX**

Flint and L sat in the van, having removed their pairs of headphones for communication. If anybody wished to contact them, a small alarm would sound and they could respond appropriately. Flint tapped a biro pen against the palm of his hand out of habit as he considered what L had just explained to him.

"I see – so C is your wife, but we are not to mention it to any of the kids that Backup and M brought along?" he clarified. L nodded. "Okay. I can deal with that just fine." Suddenly, he chuckled. "You actually _got married_. Back at Wammy's we always used to think you'd never get married. We thought you'd remain enigmatic L behind a computer."

"It was from behind a computer that C and I came into contact after four years," he admitted. "I cannot imagine how else it could have gone if she had not accepted my proposal. I would probably end up some man that nobody would glance twice at."

"That's nice," Flint commented, leaning back in his seat and propping his feet up on the dashboard. "So, you two thinking of what comes next?"

"What do you mean?" L asked.

"Will you have children, do you think?"

L froze. "Children?"

"Yeah, I mean, she's a twenty-seven-year-old woman with a good, steady job and a whole life ahead of her. Didn't you think that maybe she'd want a family pretty soon?" he suggested. "It's not like it would be an unpleasant experience for you, anyway. You're not carrying the kid for nine months."

"Did C ask you to talk about this?"

"No. This is my observational skills and understanding of women in action."

"I never…"

"No need to say it, L. I get it. I understand if you don't want to think about it just yet. You're a busy man. Children would just get in the way-"

"It's not _that_," he protested.

"Then what's stopping you?" Flint asked.

He swallowed. "B."

**XXX**

C glanced up after sitting on the motorbike she'd borrowed from Jenna for a few seconds. A light had come on in a room above the party itself. She frowned, sipping the coffee she'd bought from a Starbucks that had stayed open late. She pressed her earpiece and spoke into the microphone attached to her leather jacket.

"Ana online here, guys. We have some movement on the second floor, could be incriminating for our prime suspect. I can't see any shadows or anything so there's no way of telling if it's Dockery or not," she murmured.

"Ryuzaki online, Ana. Keep an eye on the movement and if it looks like it could be trouble we'll move in."

"No shit, Sherlock," she said quietly, removing her hand from her ear. "No shit…"

**XXX**

Having found just the right place to get a strong signal on their earpieces, Damnation and Nancy returned to the fuller crowds of the party. What they did not expect, however, was to see two of their associates, who up until now had declared complete hatred for each other, kissing in front of a rather disgusted-looking politician and his wife. Nancy touched Damnation's shoulder.

"Please tell me I'm dreaming," she hissed.

"Uh, well, I can see it."

The cogs in Nancy's mind were whirring too fast. If Sky liked K more than she him, she had the upper hand and both M and B's plan would be dismantled faster than you could say, 'amore'. They were already in enemy territory and had to be careful. She could only hope that Sky knew what the hell he was doing with her. She was undoubtedly trickier than most.

The next thing she knew, her eyes fell upon something she wished she hadn't seen.

Nancy gasped in horror and recoiled from the light of the chandeliers. She curled up in Damnation's arms for a second, her expression pained. She seemed truly frightened of something, something that she didn't quite want to confront yet. After all, it had been almost two years. Even with blonde hair instead of dark and blue eyes instead of brown, might they still recognize her?

"_Maman_," she whispered. _"Papa."_

"Your parents," Damnation realized. He knew pretty much bog-standard French, but he could figure out what that meant. "What are they doing here?"

Nancy's hand had clapped over her mouth in an attempt to appear more in control than she was. She looked up pleadingly at Damnation.

"Don't let them see me," she begged. "I look very different to the way I was but I wouldn't underestimate the power of a parent missing their child. It frightens me, Damnation; I'm scared."

It was all she had to say for Damnation to take her by the hand and lead her cautiously lead her around the fringe of the crowd, avoiding her parents at all costs. It was at this point that Nancy thought not of what she'd been told she must do, but how kind Damnation was and how warm his hand felt.

They joined Slo and Rebel by the bar, whose eyes were caught by Dockery, Ella Dockery's father, disappearing off towards the elevator. Nonchalantly, they made their way towards the stairs instead. If they were going to catch him at something, they'd want to catch him in the middle of it. Sky heard Slo talking to him on his earpiece and so broke the kiss he shared with K and encouraged her towards the elevator. One auburn-haired man did not miss how their expressions changed from ones of gratitude to ones of urgency. He smirked, put his drink down from across the bar and left the building at approximately the same time as L and C ran into it.

"Where's the elevator, Flint?" asked L.

"_Head towards the east side of the building and you've got one elevator, currently in use, and there's a set of helix stairs that aren't blocked off at the top," _he answered from the van.

"Thanks," he muttered. The two began to sprint up the stairs as fast as they could. They reached the second floor at the same time as Sky and K exited the elevator. L nodded to C. "The weapons that Jenna gave you – do you have them on your person?"

"Yes," she replied. "The lights I saw were not far from here. Just down the corridor, I think."

"Guys!" Damnation hissed, sticking his head out from around the corner. "I've found Dockery's office! I think we've got him here! The lights are on!"

The eight of them burst through the office door, C pointing a revolver at the man standing in the middle of the room. He, too, held a gun, pointed straight at them. C's hands did not shake. A few years before, it might have been different. She would have a lot more scared. Now, with not only her life, but L's, the first generation Wammy's kids, the teenagers in the room and the unborn life she was caring for.

"Drop the gun!" she ordered sharply. "You're surrounded!"

"Please…" the man gasped. "I have a family…"

"Yeah, we know; you murdered one of your own children," K snapped. "Don't try to spin that shit with us."

"Don't come any closer!" Dockery shrieked, hands trembling. "Please!"

"Mr. Dockery, this can be done a much easier way if you come with us of your own free will," C insisted, taking a step forward. "Your trial can be held discreetly and your family protected-"

"_Don't come any closer_!" he screamed. "Don't you dare or I'll shoot!"

"Mr. Dockery, put down the gun!" Rebel barked. "I said _drop it_!"

"Don't make me shoot," he cried. "Please… don't me shoot…"

"Mr. Dockery-" C stepped forward further but was cut off by a loud creak and a scream as a large metal trap similar to a bear-trap that had been hidden underneath the man's clothing snapped shut, closing his head and crushing his skull into a bloody, mangled mess. Nancy let out an involuntary scream that Damnation tried to keep quiet.

Dockery swayed for a moment, then collapsed head-first due to the extra weight, dropping the gun he had held. It didn't have the safety on, so a bullet shot out and struck K's shoulder. Her blood spattered Sky, who was standing behind her. She fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Slo moved forward to help her.

"What the hell?" Damnation whispered.

"At least we know that he's not a threat," Sky muttered.

"The trap must have sensed our approach, closing on him the moment the motion sensors caught us. That's why he had the gun. He could shoot us and save himself or save us and die," L theorized quickly. "He didn't kill his daughter, or any of those other girls."

"Which means our killer is still out there," K choked out. "And he's smart. Crazy smart." She swallowed. "He knew we were coming. He must have done. Who else would this sort of trap have been set for?"

"We'll get you back to Jenna's," L informed her. "We need to get you out of here without anyone noticing you have a bullet wound in your shoulder, or that Sky's currently covered in blood."

Most of them managed to get out, but Sky was in fact stopped by another man, a guy with brown hair and eyes. He glared at him, seeing the blood on his shirt.

"Everyone will know that you did it, whatever you did here," he hissed.

"Get out of my fucking face, Jared!" Sky growled, shoving past.

"It's your fault!" Jared yelled at him as they sprinted out of the party.

"Get into the van," Sky told K under his breath. "We have no friends here."

Before he followed her, he saw flashing lights somewhere in the unlit realm of Los Angeles, not far from the building they had just left. It only lasted a second, and so he dismissed the thought as inconsequential.

C did not.

* * *

_Okay, apparently now I have a Facebook page, after much persuasion, which M is taking care of. If you like, just... I don't know... like? Is that what you do on Facebook? Um... and yeah, the character C is currently in use by Zephyr Morpheus Lee in her fanfiction 'The Runaways'. Just a shout-out, because I've read it, and although I was not expecting the request, she is grammatically and characteristically (is that even a word?) correct. S'good._

_Okies. Onwards with the preview._

_C._

**Preview**

"What do you mean, there's been another murder?"

"Technically, there hasn't. There have been three."


	16. Your Hands Are Cold

"What _happened_?" Jenna gasped. "K's covered in blood!"

"She got shot in the shoulder by a dead man," Nancy gabbled. "He fell over."

"She got shot… by a dead man?" Jenna repeated slowly. "I'm sorry, is it just me being stupid and not understanding Nancy's accent, or did she just say that K got shot by a dead guy?"

"Yeah, she did," Sky said, following in behind Slo and K. He shot Ludo, Flint, Bess and Irina a cold look. "And that _wasn't _my fault."

"I bet," Irina muttered sarcastically.

"Lay off him," Rebel snapped. "He didn't do anything wrong."

"He's covered in blood," Irina shot back. "I notice that _he _hasn't got the least scratch either. He doesn't even look guilty."

"Leave him alone, Irina," C said quietly. "He's been through a lot tonight. We all have."

"Yeah, and I didn't notice you busting your butt undercover," Rebel threw over her shoulder. "Fuck you guys. I'm going to get changed out of this dress."

Sky sat down, removing his jacket. Slo passed K a bandage so she could tie it at a comfortable position on her shoulder. He had already helped with antiseptic and bullet removal in the van on their way back to Jenna's. She wrapped it awkwardly under her arm, trying to loop it around her clavicle. After a few minutes with little success and Slo having gone through to change, Sky sighed in frustration and got up to sit next to her.

"I don't give it a shit if it's too tight," he growled, "you need pressure on it so it can get better. You understand?"

"I can do it myself," she hissed.

"Let me do this," he told her in a low voice. Ignoring her protests, he wrapped the bandage around her shoulder solidly. "Look, I'm not Slo. I'm not good at this whole 'get well soon' thing. But after months of prison fights, you learn to fix yourself up pretty good. So let me try. I know what I'm doing."

"Ouch," she said, gritting her teeth.

"It's going to hurt," he chuckled. "You got shot… sort of."

"Okay, will you just stop?" she mumbled. "I know you don't care for me really and this is just a way of trying to sleep with me or something stupid like that, so you can cut out the act. If I'm going to complete missions with you, I want to know the _real _you. No more secrets. No lies. Be who you really are, because annoying or not, neither of us care."

Sky looked down into his lap for a few moments, processing her request. Then he stuck his hand out, smiled softly, genuinely, and nodded. "Hello. My name is James. Most people call me Sky. I hate my parents, I have two older brothers and a younger sister. I was born in Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, and I spent half a year of my life in a prison in Arizona. I'm the first-in-line successor of serial killer Beyond Birthday and I'm eighteen years old. I am also shit-scared of worms."

K couldn't help laughing out loud at this, shaking the hand he offered. "You're scared of _worms_? Why?"

"My big brother Jared put them in my pants pocket on my first day of kindergarten," he admitted, grinning. "I was freaked out about the whole thing enough without him doing that. I got him back by putting a whole bunch of frog-spawn in his bed. Mom looked like she wanted to kill us." He grimaced. "Your turn."

"Okay…" she breathed. "My name is Keira. Most people call me K. I don't have parents; my dad was the First Kira and my mum was L's sister investigating at the time. I was born in England because Mum came here to have me, I spent half a year of my life trying to kill my uncle. I'm the first-in-line successor of the world's greatest detective, L, and I'm seventeen years old. I was the Fifth Kira."

Sky arched an eyebrow. "Remind me not to piss you off."

"Too late," she smirked. "Why did you go into prison?"

"Rape and murder," he explained.

"How many counts?" she asked.

"Ah-ah-ah, my turn… mm… question… a good question…" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. He leant close so their faces were only an inch apart. "You know you've got to be honest with this."

"Mm."

"Do you find me attractive?"

She laughed quietly and lowered her head so their foreheads were touching. "That is such a _guy _question…"

"So answer it."

She narrowed her eyes as she thought about it, then looked up, still close. She sighed. "Yes, I find you attractive."

"That's a good enough answer for me," he confirmed. "Now you can ask me something."

"You know," she murmured, "I just forgot what my question was…" She stood up carefully so Sky had to move back a little. "Goodnight, Sky. James."

"'Night," he muttered as she disappeared into the room the girls were sharing. He suddenly remembered something. He followed her into the room, tapped on the wood of the door and unbuttoned his shirt, throwing it to her. "K… you might want to take your blood back."

She shook her head after he had walked out of the door, chucking the shirt onto a random pile. Nancy came out of the en suite bathroom with a huge girly grin spread across her face. She sounded like she was gasping for breath in shock. Her jaw had fallen open as she emitted an excited squeal.

"_Il t'aime_!" she squeaked. "Ah, _c'est adorable_! _Adorable_, I tell you!"

"Are you picking up on Bess's hyperactivity disorder?" K said, amused. "What's with that look?"

"You act like nobody can get to that icy heart of yours, but you're still smiling a little!" Nancy teased. "Oh, look at you! You're glowing! Oh, K, I'm so proud…"

"Nancy, what are you going on about?" Rebel sighed as she entered, brushing her hair. "You know, if you're like this for the rest of the trip I'll probably throw myself off of the top of the Hollywood sign or something."

"Don't be so grim at such a pleasant time," Nancy chastised. "Look at K's face and you shall understand."

"I don't see anything-" She cut herself off when K unconsciously touched the bandage on her shoulder carefully. "K, you got anything you want to tell us? Was it Slo who helped you with that bandage?"

"No, I did it myself," she lied.

"That's very neatly done if you did it yourself," Rebel pointed out casually. "Are you certain somebody didn't help you?"

"Positive." She stepped out of her dress, changed into her pajamas and clambered into bed. "I'll shower in the morning. I'm exhausted. I don't know about you two."

"You washed all the blood off, right?" Rebel checked. She nodded. "All right, then."

**XXX**

Sky leant back on his bed, hands crossed behind his head as he stared aimlessly up at the ceiling. The two other boys had gotten their own room, voting that he get a room to himself. Sometimes being hated by others gave him advantages. He could breathe freely now. He was thinking through the next part of his strategy. Gaining K's trust was essential for any further progress, he knew that much.

The 'take back your blood' thing had been a clever trick, if he could say so himself. Not only did it give the impression that he was being honest and gentle with her, but it gave her a chance to see what an amazing body he had. She was beginning to fall for him so completely; he would make sure that she dropped the rest of the way. In addition, with the rest of the girls insisting that Sky had feelings for K, he would have less chance of being found out. If they could convince her that what she felt was affection also, then this would become all too easy.

"_That is such a _guy _question…"_

Well, of course it was. He _was _a guy, after all. What else had she expected? The classic question that females writing romantic novels usually weaved in at some point or another: 'do you _love _me?' That was almost vomit-inducing. He muttered something along the lines of, 'vile' as he rolled over and tried to settle into sleep.

"I really hope you're comfortable, because I'm going to kick your ass," a familiar voice warned.

"Fuck off, Rebel," he groaned. "I don't wanna hear it."

"Tough shit, Sky. Move along-"

"Please tell me you're not going to – ow! No need to jump on me!" He gave her a hefty shove. "Damn, bitch, what have you been eating? You weigh a frickin' _ton_."

"I'll let that one slide since I'm already pissed off at you enough as it is," she hissed. "I don't want to end up killing you, so open your ears."

"I'm listening."

"I want you to have a plan in place. I know you're B's protégé and this should be child's play to you, but you're too flippant. I don't want the plan backfiring. No one here trusts us anyway. You need to be cautious. You need to focus on what you're meant to be doing." She sighed in exasperation and closed her eyes before speaking again. "What I _mean_ is I don't want you getting stupid crushes or doing anything you'll regret."

Sky let out a harsh laugh that sounded like one of a true cynic. No wonder B had picked him out of the others.

"You really think I'd be enough of a fool to even get the slightest crush on a girl like _that_?" he snickered. "People give your intelligence too much credit."

She smirked. "So you have tactics?"

"With my kissing talent, nothing like this is ever _luck_," he murmured. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "_Right_, Rebel?"

"Mm." Her heart fluttered for a second. She didn't even hold feelings like that for her cohort, yet still his touch set her heart hammering. He was _that _good. K didn't stand a chance.

"You can rest easy knowing that everything I do with K is to use her," he said calmly. "She'll be dropped as soon as she runs out of purpose."

K heard all of this from her place outside the door and, unexpectedly, smiled.

She couldn't let them know she knew Sky was using her. So she would pretend she was falling for him. It was a dangerous game, she knew, introducing emotion into an investigation. That was why she had never failed once where many others had let their feelings get in the way. Whilst she pretended, she would make Sky fall into the trap she would set. Not even Slo and Damnation could know about this.

Any response she gave now would be robotic. She was not a person who could love. She doubted her mother had been either. She wasn't even sure her parents had been in love. What sort of relationship had it been? And if they had loved each other even the slightest, it had probably been some instant crush thing, the forbidden work thing. Nobody who hated someone else with a passion as strong as hers ended up in love with them. That only ever happened in stories.

She returned to bed and slept fitfully after she'd thrown Sky's shirt in the dumpster outside of her bedroom window.

**XXX**

"What do you mean, there's been another murder?"

"Technically, there hasn't. There have been three."

L sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "A family of three, you say?"

"Father, mother, son." She passed him the pathological notes. "Someone just when and slaughtered them all, beating them to death with what appears to be a large rock."

"Like a paving stone?"

"More like a brick?" she shrugged. "Our murderer could have chosen a more suitable weapon, so this makes me think the weapon choice was deliberate, especially considering how intelligent our killer was concerning Ella Dockery's father."

L brought his knees to his chest as he pondered the thought. "That makes considerable sense. So if the killer was moving where to wherever we were, what possible motive could he or she have? An attack, perhaps? I'm so unsure… I have so many things clogging up my brain… Even sitting like this isn't helping."

"Breathe," C advised, putting an arm around him. "I know it's hard. I know we have a lot to do. We'll take it one step at a time, like we always do, and then we'll just go back home. All of us. We'll figure out this thing with B and M. We'll get on with our lives."

She patted him on the back, got to her feet and walked into the living room, seeing Jenna on the couch. She sat down next to her.

"He's taking it hard."

"This whole 'Beyond's kids' issue is stressing him out," C explained. "I feel bad for him. He's done a lot of shit in his life, but he's done a lot of good too. He doesn't deserve this."

"That's tough," Jenna sighed. "You know, I'm really glad you can support him. If you'd left, he'd be feeling a lot worse than he is now."

"Jen," she whispered, "can you keep a secret?"

"You know I can."

"It's… I can't… Jen, you can't tell _anybody_." Her breathing was jagged. She covered her mouth with one hand. "Jen…"

"What is it, honey?" she asked, worried.

Wordlessly, C took her hand and placed it over her abdomen. The look on Jenna's face should have been bottled and sold on a market stall – it was priceless. Her eyes widened in shock, her mouth falling open. Immediately, she tried to mask her astonishment, but couldn't contain it in her voice.

"Does _he _know?" she gasped.

C shook her head helplessly.

"Why?"

"I can't when he's under this much pressure already!" she hissed. "I… Jenna, there's something else."

"There's _more_? What is it, triplets?" she choked out.

"No… there's a chance that they could turn out like B."

"_B's _the father?"

"No!" she protested. "But it's something L doesn't know yet… Beyond Birthday is L's younger brother – Rin was his twin sister."

* * *

_Dun dun DUN!_

_Remember how much reviews motivate me...? Yeah... the amount that I update is in your hands!_

_C._

**Preview**

K glared at him. "What if I fall?"

His response was an exasperated sigh. "Well, I'll catch you then, won't I?"


	17. Your Song

K gazed out over the city very early in the morning, just as the world began to awake. The sky was still a little grey, casting its light over the landscape. Traffic was beginning, as it always did, and a dull murmur could be heard from way up in Beverley Hills. She let the breeze blow her hair back. It was pretty much noiseless in the house behind her. She'd risen at half past four that morning and showered, preparing herself for the unknown day ahead.

Somebody wound through the lower streets of Beverley Hills, she could see, in a black Rolls Royce. It looked like they were heading up to Jenna's house, or close enough to it to make her suspicious. She frowned, her hand moving to her shoulder. As she began to loosen the knot tied in her bandage, a hand clamped down on her wrist.

"Keep it there," Slo told her. "You'll recover faster."

"I'm recovered _now_," she insisted. "You guys worry too much."

"K, you got shot."

"I fell down the stairs too, right?" she sighed.

"You don't have to live with that, you know. Obviously, you won't forget anymore, but you still have a second chance. There's a reason for that." He wrapped a friendly arm around her shoulder. "You're a smart girl, K. You've got a lot going for you."

"What annoys me is how I let you keep it a secret. You know, I pushed Hamlet off of a pier and I watched him die. I wrote his name into a Death Note, told you it was an accident and lied to everyone, even Romeo." She appeared panicked for a second. "Romeo doesn't know, does he?"

"No."

"Thank God." She touched her bandage again. "I won't have a hole in my shoulder forever, will I?"

Slo laughed. "No. You'll heal soon enough, and I'll be here to help you."

She face-palmed, smiling. "Wow, that was so cheesy."

"But it's making you smile," he pointed out. "And you haven't hit me yet."

"Shit, why are you my friend?"

"Because this is exactly what friends do. Besides that, I also know pretty much everything about you, and you me. I'm sure you could write an eight-hundred-page embarrassing biography on me," he admitted.

"Yeah. But you could write one thousand pages on me."

"And you know it," he grinned. "I think you'll be staying here today. You're injured, and we need you to recover, not agitate your wound further."

"Will you stop fussing if I stay at home today?"

"Yes," he said. He glanced once out over the city with her, and then looked back at the house. "Do you want go inside?"

"Not yet," she murmured. "I think I'd like some quiet."

"I'll go then."

"It's okay."

It was seven o'clock in the morning when they finally went back inside, Slo's arm still around his friend's shoulder.

**XXX**

Athena glanced around the room, counting the people who were present. Cleo, arms folded, sat on the sofa with Io, Chip and Blu. Callie was standing, as were Cerys and Brooke. The blonde twenty-three-year-old was pacing impatiently, nibbling at her thumbnail in her frustration. Eventually Io stood up, grabbed hold of her shoulders and pushed her down so that she had to sit.

"Calm," she ordered in a firm monotone. "I think it is best you steady yourself, Callie."

Finally, Checkmate and Romeo stumbled in, closing the door behind them. Athena had her hands on her hips.

"And where do you think _you've _been?" she snapped.

"Sorry we're late, we were just hanging out with Flo and Rachel-" Checkmate was cut off by her disbelieving expression on her face. Nervously, he backtracked. "I was walking here with Romeo and they were sorta… uh…"

"You're – completely – defeating – the – point – of – this – meeting," she said slowly, her anger building. "For God's sake! You clearly don't understand! L, C, Slo, K and Damnation are out there fighting for their lives and trying to keep us safe and you're… _canoodling_!"

Romeo raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so what are _we _doing?"

"We should be keeping up a strong wall against these people. B and M are not to be trusted under any circumstances. That means not even speaking to 'Flo' or Rachel… got it?" she snapped. "We have to resist this or everything we stand for could be at risk."

"What's wrong with me talking to Flo?" Romeo growled. "She's not like the rest of them. She doesn't even want to be here."

"See?" Athena barked. "She's gotten to you already!"

Romeo glared. "Shut up, Athena. Just… shut up."

He spun around and stormed out of the room. When he was gone, Beyond poked his head through the door. He studied all of their expressions and smirked. Callie clenched her fists, despising the situation.

**XXX**

K watched the van navigate the lower streets, biting her lip and turning back to the house. She reentered it, deciding to do some reading and relax for a while after exploring the house a little more. There were five bedrooms, she noted, and some walk-in closets bigger than the rooms themselves. It seemed to have been decorated in a fifties style, with a curved wooden bar and long white couches. Once you had walked a few steps through the front door, you would go through a transition of white tiles to fluffy white carpet. There was a study attached to Jenna's room, the walls lined with full bookshelves.

A long fish tank stood in the middle of the study, something K took to watching to calm herself down. She pressed a hand against the glass and smiled at a fish completing a loop-the-loop in the water. The light passing through the tank gave her skin an aquamarine tint to it. She was surprised when another face appeared on the other side of the tank.

"Hi," he mouthed.

She shook her head, laughing quietly. "What are you doing?" she mimed back.

He touched his palm to the glass. "Talking to you," he answered silently.

She decided to move further down the room until she reached the end of the tank. He was there waiting for her. "James," she mumbled.

"Keira."

"Why aren't you with the others?" she asked.

"I offered to stay and look after you. I mean, Slo was a bit pissy about it and all, but I wore him down. He's needed on the team. I'm not. I am disposable-" He stopped when she hit him hard on the chest with her good side. He frowned, confused at her returned scowl. He ruffled her hair. "What's with that look?"

She slapped his hand away. "Don't say shit like that, okay?"

"What?" He stared at her.

"You're not disposable," she snapped. "Don't beat yourself down that way. After all…" She flicked the front of his hair. "That's my job."

"Dare I say it, but am I growing on you?" he suggested.

"I'll consider it." She made her way towards the pool.

"Where are you going?" he called.

"Going to relax. I need to recover, don't I?" she responded.

"Go change into some shorts and a shirt or something," he instructed.

"Why?"

He smiled. "I know a place."

**XXX**

They all entered the crime scene warily, studying the place with as much attention to detail as possible. C handed Slo the dossier and began to take photographs of the place where the three had died: the living room. There was very little blood, and the bodies had been removed the previous day, after the scene had been discovered and more pictures had been taken of it. She went up to the boy's room, hoping to see some evidence of why he had seen it fit to go downstairs. Would he have been able to hear commotion in the living room from where he lay in his bed?

"C," L called. "C, I just got a call from the pathologist. Can I have a word with you?"

"I'll be down in a second," she answered. "One moment."

She took a picture of the room's layout and descended the staircase once more.

"What is it?" she asked.

"They found something in the bodies of both parents post-mortem," L explained. "There was straw stuffed down the father's esophagus, and strips of bark down the mother's."

"And the son?" C enquired.

"Nothing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" C frowned. "Someone murders an entire family and leaves some sickly symbolism behind them? What's the _point_?"

They were distracted by Nancy's derisive noise – from the back of her throat – as she looked at the dossier over Slo's shoulder. Wordlessly, they turned to face her.

"Are those the people who died?" she sighed. "They're all seriously overweight. It's disgusting."

"Nancy," Slo said warningly.

"But look at them!" she defended herself. "They're all horrible and… what is it you British people say…? Porky?"

"People taste like pork, apparently," Rebel threw over her shoulder as she read though the material on the family's bookshelf. "Red meat. Heard about that through Arthur Shawcross or something like that…"

The frown vanished from C's expression, instead being replaced by astonishment and revelation. "Nancy, say that again," she said.

"Oh, what, so now you're making fun of my accent?" she hissed. "Even you? I'm not saying anything!"

"No!" she gasped. "I mean, about the family!"

"They're… porky?" she repeated tentatively.

"Oh my God…" C breathed. "L, we're dealing with someone very interested in detail."

"We know that through Ella Dockery's father," he pointed out.

"L, what do they have in common?" she whispered.

"I'm not following."

"The mother's throat had straw down it, right? The father's had bark. Wood. _Sticks_. All three were murdered by the same weapon – a brick. But nothing was done to the boy. He represented the brick. Straw, sticks, brick. I think we have what connects them all," she realized.

"They were all overweight," L added. "All… '_porky_'. Like out of a story."

C grinned and nodded. "'The Three Little Pigs'."

"Somebody's killing according to fairytales?" Slo said, scowling. "That's so fucked up it's not even funny."

"Deanne Hounsfield was poisoned," Rebel interjected. "And it was never written in the reports what she poisoned _with_. I'd bet you anything it was an apple."

"'Snow White'," Damnation agreed. "Ella Dockery had a shoe removed, like Cinderella."

"But what about Kristin Buckley? What has she to do with anything, if our theory is correct?" C asked.

They all thought for a few minutes before L spoke up. "I remember what she was wearing in the picture." He swallowed. "A red hooded sweater."

"'Little Red Riding Hood'," murmured Rebel.

"So we're dealing with someone whose childhood or teen life was ruined, maybe felt jealousy or anger towards a friend or sibling – we can tell by the messy yet childish ways in which they're killing – and someone who moves around a lot," C theorized. "If we find the poison that killed Deanne Hounsfield we should be one step closer to identifying the murderer."

**XXX**

"No peeking. If you look, I'll be very disappointed in you."

"What?"

"I said no peeking!"

"I'm not peeking – what are you _doing_? Put me _down_!"

"Don't worry, no one's looking. Much."

"Sky! Seriously! Put me down!"

"Don't you dare take off that blindfold!"

"What-? Sky, are we on a train?"

"…Nope."

"_Sky_! You're not putting me on a train to Mexico, are you?"

"I'm sure you'd find some donkey to ride your way back on, K. There would be no point to me putting you on a train to Mexico. Besides, I'm _with _you, aren't I? I don't really fancy Mexico. You know they have a placed called Chihuahua there?"

"Yes, I know, but… Sky, really, can you put me down now? Isn't your arm tired? You've been holding me under it for about five minutes."

"No, my arm's fine."

"Oh, _please_…"

"Keep groveling. Maybe I'll let you go once we get there."

"_Maybe_?"

This banter continued for the remainder of the journey, which was not long considering the amount of time that the two of them felt like it was going on for. Sky felt fleetingly sorry for the passengers surrounding them, yet that dispersed when two old women began whispering and giggling at how Sky stood so straight with such ease whilst holding the tall girl under one arm and holding onto the safety bar of the carriage at the same time.

Once they'd reached their destination, Sky took out a pair of sunglasses from his jeans pocket for both of them and handed one to K, putting her down. He led her, still blindfolded, out onto a platform, and then removed the blindfold after they'd walked a little way. She gladly conceded, putting on the sunglasses and looking up at the scene before her. Her jaw dropped.

"The Getty Center?" she said, amazed.

"I thought you should see it. It's near impossible to get a place more beautiful than this," he shrugged. "It would suck if you didn't get to come here when we're in LA anyway. Slo told me your favourite artist was Da Vinci. It seems we have something in common, after all."

They spent the next few hours looking through the stunning pictures and sculptures of the Getty, though both liked the gardens best. Part of the art was the building itself. They bought something to drink in the courtyard, mucking around by the fountains and taking as many photos as possible. They went out to see the maze-like area and lost each other for a moment. K looked around to see him sitting on a high-up chunk of the building.

"How did you get up there?" she asked.

"I climbed," he told her. "You try. The view's great."

"What?" she snapped. "You crazy person!"

"Oh, come on."

K glared at him. "What if I fall?"

His response was an exasperated sigh. "Well, I'll catch you then, won't I?"

"Promise?"

"Yes. I promise I will catch you if you fall."

"You'd better live up to that promise," she warned. He offered her a hand and helped pull her up to sit beside him.

"See?" he pointed out. "You didn't fall."

She wasn't so sure about that.

* * *

_I am SO SORRY I haven't updated for a long time, but surely this was worth it...? No...?_

_Review if you like. Or if you don't. You know the drill. Come on, look at the button - hasn't it got a cute little speech bubble and everything?_

**Preview**

Romeo yanked his hand away with as much strength as he could muster. He felt as if it had all been sapped from him.

"Stop..." he gasped. "Leave me alone."


	18. Two Worlds, One Family

"I've tried phoning them at the house and it's not working," C explained again. "I don't think they're going to pick up from there. Let me just try K on her cell." Finally, she got through. "Hey, K, it's C, we've been trying to get hold of you for fifteen minutes; where are you? I – is that Sky with you?"

L tensed. "Where are they?"

"Getty Center, apparently," she responded coolly. "And why are you at the Getty Center?"

"I bet you ten bucks it was Sky's idea," Rebel told Damnation.

"You're on," he hissed.

"Cough up, Damnation," C instructed. She looked at L. "She says Sky said he thought she should go because we're in LA anyway. That's a good enough reason as any. Besides, the girl needs to brighten up a little. She's been so down lately. Maybe spending some time with Sky will cheer her up."

"Mm," muttered Slo. "I suppose so."

**XXX**

"I think you should dye your hair," he shrugged. "So it's not halfway between the two different colors. It could be a better combination than dark blonde and black, couldn't it?"

"There's nothing wrong with my hair!" she snapped, putting her phone away. "I like the way it is now."

"That's not what I see."

"Well, you're blind then, aren't you?" she muttered. The train slid to a stop and the two of them walked out onto the platform. "I had a good time today. Thanks… you know."

He bit his lip and looked down at his feet. "Yeah. I had a good time too. For all you act like a cold-hearted bitch, you're… you're actually okay, I guess. I suppose that I misjudged you the first time we met. I mean-"

"I get it. I'm not as much of a bitch as you thought," she chuckled. "Come on, let's go."

On the way out, Sky froze. Standing outside was a young man and who appeared to be his girlfriend. K tried to place where she had seen the man before, and then, glancing at Sky's expression, the memory clicked. It was Jared, Sky's older brother, the lawyer he'd told her about. The girl he was with was tall, but not quite as tall as K. She was typically Californian, with bleached-blonde hair and tanned, glowing skin. K arched an eyebrow, unimpressed. She recognized the girl as a model from one of Nancy's various fashion magazines: Candy Johnson. K doubted that was her real name.

"Sky, just keep walking. Don't talk to him unless he talks to you," she advised.

"Gladly," he murmured.

They kept walking. Unintentionally, Sky caught Jared's eye. He grabbed his wrist, only to have his grip broken and his face pretty much forced into the ground. The girl, Candy, let out a horrified squeal. She gaped at Sky, who was unflinching as he held down his brother. K did not smile, nor did she look upset. In fact, one could say her face was wistful. She clearly did not like Jared.

"It's okay, sweetie," Jared tried to reassure his girlfriend. "He's just a little upset."

"Fuck you, Jared."

"Let him up, Sky," K told him.

Glaring, Sky let go of the young man's arm. Jared scrambled to his feet, trying to remain dignified. He nodded politely to K.

"Thank you. I would be careful with him if I were you. the next thing you know, he could end up killing you." He rubbed his cheek, getting rid of any dirt that may have stuck there. "I think we had better be on our way, Candy."

"Oh, Mr. Blue," K interjected before he could run off.

"Yes, miss?"

She responded with a swift kick between his legs, causing him to collapse onto his knees. Sky couldn't help bursting out laughing at this sight. She tucked some hair behind her ear and smiled properly. "I would be so grateful if you would butt the fuck out of your younger brother's life and let him live." She punched the air mock-cheerfully. "Vote Blue, right?"

Sky slung his arm around her shoulders, still cracking up until they reached the parking lot. "I think…" he laughed. "Oh, man… K, I think I love you."

They stopped, seeing C standing in front of them, arms folded. She had heard everything, and she was smiling at them with a mixture of curiosity and triumph. "Would you like a lift back to Jenna's, you two?"

"Don't tell L," K mumbled.

"Don't worry, kiddies. L already knows you've been out, and I've warned him to keep his opinions to himself. You know, I never thought he'd play the really protective uncle, but he's very good at it. You're very lucky I got to him before you, honey, that's all I can say. Just get into the car and say nothing about what a nice time you had" – she raised an eyebrow at their faces – "though there's no need to look like that. I can tell. I'll keep it zip."

"Okay," the two said together, sheepishly climbing into the back of the car.

"Did you enjoy yourselves?" L asked coldly. "Play safe?"

"Oh, for God's _sake_-" K started.

"_L,_ what the hell did I just tell you?" C growled. "She's not Rin. Leave her be."

"I'm just checking to see if she's all right."

"You won't be if you keep this up. Quit it, L," she sighed. She placed a hand over his. "She's seventeen. She's only a year younger than I was when you hired me to work for you. You told my parents you thought I should be able to make my own choices. Let her do the same."

L lowered his eyes and twisted the key in the ignition. "Let's get back to Jenna's. We have a lot to fill these two in on."

**XXX**

Romeo glanced around the leisure room in search of Flora and saw nobody there at first. That was when he heard quiet breathing. He wasn't sure who it was, if anybody was actually there, and took a few steps further into the room. He followed the noise to where it originated, behind a couch at the far end of the floor, by the window. There was a small girl crouched behind the couch, clutching a pillow to her chest. She couldn't have been any younger than ten, and her eyes were wide as she rocked back and forth. It was perfectly obvious her hair had been dyed black, and her expression was a mixture of fear and wistfulness.

"Hey, kid," he said, kneeling down to her level. "Are you okay?"

"I don't want to touch anybody," she muttered, "because all of you have seen death. _All _of you. Filthy. Disgusting. Ugh."

"What are you talking about-?" He went to reach for her, to help her up, when she slapped his hand back and gasped. Then she found herself unable to stop herself from holding onto him.

"It's happening again!" she sobbed. "Why didn't you listen?" She stared blankly at the wall behind Romeo's shoulder, tears spilling down her face. "You tried to save her."

He swallowed. "What?"

"She slit her own wrists, didn't she?" she continued in a monotone. "She could hear you trying to break down the door to the bathroom. She was just lying there, broken and bleeding, in the bathtub. You got in."

"What _are _you?" he spat.

"And then it just didn't work out, did it? You phoned for an ambulance, you called your brother, you yelled for help for anyone in your apartment block that would actually be able to aid you, and it just didn't work out. She didn't say anything to you when she died, did she?" she pressed.

Romeo yanked his hand away with as much strength as he could muster. He felt as if it had all been sapped from him.

"Stop..." he gasped. "Leave me alone."

"You know who I'm talking about?" the girl whispered.

"You have no right to talk about my mother," he growled. "Leave me alone. Just… don't come near me. I don't want to hear it."

"I can't help it!" she hissed. "If I could, I would, but I can't. I'm just not normal like everyone else. Everyone else can have secrets kept from them! I _can't_!"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Eve Skeleter," she muttered, "or rather, that's what everyone calls me. My real name is Colette Ellis. I'm related to Faith, the one you call Rachel. I'm her cousin."

"Why are you telling me this?" Romeo asked, wary.

"I can't keep it bottled up anymore," she admitted. "Besides, I'm glad it's you. You look like you can be told anything. You have a trustworthy face."

"What are you guys all doing here, anyway? I've heard Athena spinning some stupid invasion spiel, and I've heard Beyond coming out with 'we want the best for the kids' crap. Which one is true, and which one should I be listening to?" Romeo checked.

Eve leant forward. "Honestly?"

"Of course," he said.

"Well, the truth is I would be really careful of-" She stopped. Romeo's head turned and he saw Beyond Birthday standing there, arms folded.

"Well, well, there you are, Eve," he murmured. "M and I were beginning to get worried. And you… what's your alias again?"

"Romeo."

"Romeo, I wouldn't be hanging around suspiciously if I were you. One might think you were up to something," he smirked. "Lingering around a place on your own… anything could happen. What if someone were to just… wander right in… and slit your throat? Or maybe you could fall down the stairs after losing your footing?"

Romeo did not miss the threat. He stood up, his posture rigid. He clenched his fists, his eyes angry underneath brown bangs. Beyond was merely grinning at him creepily from across the room. The menace remained in that Romeo had no idea how far this man would go, what would happen next. His behavior was so erratic and unpredictable that he had no idea whether the red-eyed man had an unbelievably massive advantage. There was so much he could not do with this holding him back.

He helped Eve to her feet, offering her a hand, and slipped past Beyond, not breaking eye contact with him. You were never supposed to look an animal for too long in the eye or it might think you were attempting to intimidate it. That was not the case with a serial killer. You had to look them in the eye so you knew they were looking at your face and not your back or your neck.

He left the room and hurried out onto the playing field, where a game of baseball was going on. He leant up against a rugby post and took his cell phone out of his pocket. Fuck the cost of the call. He needed to talk to someone quick.

"Hello?"

"C, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. How's the fort holding up, Romeo?" Her voice was reasonably cheerful. Good. That meant things were going well. "We just figured some things out for the case and we're hopefully going to be undercover tomorrow… the place is a little unorthodox, but one of our suspects is going. How are you?"

"I think B's going to kill me."

"He tries to kill everyone. If you see him with a rope, keep your hands at the level of your eyes," she replied coolly.

"You make people trying to kill you sound _normal_."

"Romeo, sweetie, I had over fifteen attempts made on my life before I turned twenty," she sighed. "Let's just say I'm fairly used to it by now. It's a wonder I've not gone prematurely gray."

"But he's going to… you know… _kill _me…"

"Stay close to Checkmate or Athena, and don't piss him off."

"And M?"

She paused. "Keep looking cute."

"_What?"_

"Yeah, I know it's weird, but trust me, if you stay cute, she won't have as much chance to kill you. She'll be distracted."

"Is that a _good _thing…?" he mumbled.

"I'll tell you when it works."

Romeo glanced over at Checkmate running around the bases. "There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?"

"How do you _know_ that?" She sounded startled.

"I… I was joking. So what is it?"

He heard her hesitate, and then her voice lowered. "I'm pregnant."

"_HOLY CRAP_!" he yelled. Several people stopped playing baseball to stare at him, including Checkmate, who tilted his head to one side in interest.

"That was my ear, Romeo."

"Sorry."

* * *

_I got to listen to such epic music for this chapter - laughing for some of the stuff out of pure boredom. Ever seen the Death Note AMV 'Zero to Kira'? It's just... hilarious..._

**Preview**

Damnation raised an eyebrow. "That has to be one of the most ridiculous places ever to go undercover."

"Spoilsport," Nancy teased. "I think it'll be kind of fun."

"Fun, but dangerous," C pointed out. "I hope you realize that."

"I never would have called that place dangerous in my life," Slo muttered, rolling his eyes.

_Two guesses in each review to think about where they're talking about!_


	19. Undying Love

Damnation was grinning at her, and it was pissing her off. For five minutes, she had gone with the 'ignore him and he'll go away' tactic. Now she was resorting to the 'hit him until he gets the fucking message' strategy. When she began to punch him on the arm repeatedly, instead of having the desired effect, he just kept sniggering. She elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"Shut up!" she hissed.

"No, this is too funny," he taunted. "K and Sky, sitting in a tree-"

"_Grow up_!" she snapped, punching him in the stomach. "I don't have a crush on Sky!"

"You so _do_."

"Piss off."

"You two are bickering like brother and sister," Rebel chuckled. "It's brilliant. You guys are all just a huge, dysfunctional family, aren't you?"

"Ew," K said.

"If I was any relative of hers, I'd shoot myself," Damnation muttered.

Slo laughed and put an arm around each of them. "No, she's right, guys. We're just like family. We have L, the protective, antisocial dad, C, the warm yet firm mum, Mello and Near, the gay uncles, Matt, the goofy uncle, K, the sulky teenage sister, Damnation, the annoying little brother…"

"Romeo's the cute, sweet little brother," K interjected. "And Leo's the pissy ex."

"Even though you never actually dated," Damnation shrugged. "What about Athena?"

"Big sister," Slo said, "the one who always tries to look out for you and would beat the crap out of the bullies. Roger's the world-weary grandpa."

"Not world-weary," C pointed out from the front. "Just tired of dealing with you kids and your crazy business."

"_Ooh_!" giggled Nancy. "What sort of business are we talking?"

"I really, _really _do not want to know," L said from the driving seat.

"L, you sound just like a father," K smiled.

Slo and C automatically tensed at that one. She threw him a cautious glance over her shoulder and he evaded her eyes. K didn't miss the exchange and smirked, seeing there was definitely a secret there. She began to deduce the possibilities and clapped her hand over her mouth before she gasped out loud.

"Are you feeling sick, K?" Rebel asked.

_I'm not the one who will be_, K thought. "I'm fine. Yawning."

"Sky tire you out?" L suggested.

"L, _stop it_!" C admonished him, hitting his shoulder. "I swear on Light Yagami's grave if you don't quit it-"

"I was merely enquiring as to her health," he defended himself. "As in, maybe she cannot walk properly-"

"L, _seriously_-!"

"Or she's feeling nausea-"

"L, I'm not _pregnant_!" K barked. "Shut it or I'm going to strangle you!"

"Awfully defensive…"

"_Right_!" She lunged forward, only to be restrained by the cage that was Sky's arms dragging her back. She struggled futilely for about twenty seconds before sinking back and folding her arms as best she could in front of her. "Fuck you, Sky. Fuck you with something cold and spiky."

"I thought you said we weren't sleeping together-?" he pointed out.

"I'm going to kill you _both_!" she growled.

"Oh, no, you're not."

"I _am_! With razors and rope and big fucking _grenades_…" she hissed.

"Of course," he said coolly.

Damnation and Slo's jaws dropped to the ground in pure shock when Sky's hand trailed down the girl's face to her neck, tracing his thumb over her bottom lip and she didn't move to stop him. She merely turned her head so her hair hid her eyes and placed her hand over his. Slo felt a little sick; he could still see the bruises that covered her throat. There was now no doubt in his mind: K was falling for Sky, hook, line and sinker.

Still, wasn't that what Damnation was doing with Nancy, and he with Rebel? He had a _girlfriend_; he shouldn't be going there. He swallowed, edging further away from his childhood friend. When they were getting out of the car, he saw K disengage herself from Sky's arms and roll her eyes exasperatedly. Sky was smirking to himself also. So… what? The two were playing each other? That was going to give him a headache, plus some pretty nasty mental images.

They gathered in the living room, spreading out on the sofas with Flint, Bess, Ludo and Irina. Jenna stood with C and L.

"We have an undercover mission tomorrow," L explained. "I don't want you to be disillusioned. Where we are going could be dangerous and potentially fatal. You all know what you're doing. You're intelligent people. Now, we have to follow a suspect and make sure they are not meeting anyone else where they are going."

"Okay, so where is it?" K asked.

"I don't want you to get complacent-"

"L, just tell us where the fuck it is."

He paused. "Disneyland."

It was completely silent for a moment as they all processed what he had said. Rebel spoke up. "What… the fuck?"

Damnation raised an eyebrow. "That has to be one of the most ridiculous places ever to go undercover."

"Spoilsport," Nancy teased. "I think it'll be kind of fun."

"Fun, but dangerous," C pointed out. "I hope you realize that."

"I never would have called that place dangerous in my life," Slo muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, I don't know," Sky shrugged. "We could get mobbed by High School Musical and Hannah Montana merchandise."

"Ugh." All six teenagers shivered in distaste.

"We'll leave early in the morning, just as the park as opening," C added. "And I promise you won't die from too much shit-Disney exposure. It's the guys in the big cuddly suits I worry about. I got attacked by a big-ass Mickey Mouse before. I was never the same."

"Oh…" Irina murmured. "That's why you're so weird."

"Were you raped by a Jonas brother when you were younger?" Rebel asked lightly.

"Yeah, that would explain why you're such a bitch," Sky finished.

"Oh, is _that _why?" Nancy continued. "I thought it was because she had a baguette shoved up her ass… oh, no, she was probably a bitch before I did that."

"So why'd you shove up a baguette up her ass, honey?" Rebel enquired innocently.

"Probably because she being a bitch, you know," Nancy admitted.

**XXX**

The six teenagers were ready very early, all wearing their own individual colored shirts with a pair of jeans. Rebel was given red, Nancy pink, K purple, Slo green, Sky blue and Damnation… yellow. He was not particularly cheerful about this decision and complained that they were purposefully emasculating him. They rolled their eyes and said he'd wear the fucking shirt or go topless, which would not go down very well in Disneyland. C wore black and L agreed to go ahead and wear his usual white.

They were each handed pictures of the man they were meant to be following and managed to weave their way in through the throngs of eager kids and already exhausted adults. They had booked tickets the previous day and merely needed to present their proof of purchase in order to get in. They received wristbands to maneuver between the two different parks and Rebel couldn't help smiling when the security guards did a routine check of their bags. They obviously didn't see all of the guns and gadgets they had hidden. Gosh, security was slack.

Damnation and Nancy headed in the direction of Fantasyland, Slo and Rebel Tomorrowland and K and Sky Adventureland. K looked around carefully before going into the ladies' toilets and hiding in one of the cubicles. She opened her rucksack and took out a DNA scanner, hiding it on the side of a light bulb. If the prime suspect walked within a twenty metre radius of the scanner they would know just where he was. She walked out of the cubicle, not forgetting to cover her tracks with a flush and washing her hands. She met Sky outside and walked along with him hand in hand.

"Stop looking so nervous," she said with a forced smile. "Anyone would think we didn't get along."

"Maybe we just fought this morning," he suggested.

"Oh, chill out… look, there's the Waking Up Summer parade on in an hour…"

Rebel, in Tomorrowland, 'accidentally' bumped into their main suspect, apologizing hastily and patting his shoulder. As she edged past, she placed a tracker in his pocket. She and Slo put their arms around each other and carried on their way, telling Damnation and Nancy via earpieces their suspect was on his way to Fantasyland.

Rebel suddenly saw someone and looked incredibly anxious. She grabbed Slo's hand and dragged him off in another direction. "Oh, shit," she whispered. "Three."

"What?" Slo hissed. "What are you on about?"

"My cousin's colleagues are going to… um… kill me. Sorta." This was the first time she had appeared the least bit nervy. "My cousin Mischa is sort of part of an assassination group called the Nine. They… uh… tried to kill L once. More than once. Maybe four times… or something like that."

"Are you _serious_?"

"Yeah…"

"What do they want with you?"

"They want me to join."

Meanwhile, Damnation was running from a guy in a suit – with a gun. Somehow, he'd gotten split up from Nancy and was tempted to hide behind a churro stand if things got too hot. Freaked, he ran into a crowded restaurant. Who the fuck _was _this guy? What did he want from him? Maybe he was security, having realized that they were hiding guns in their bags… uh, no.

"_Shit_!" he spat. Why did he have to wear fucking _yellow_? They'd spot him from a mile off… or was that the plan? Was he meant to be a diversion in case something went wrong? Well, if that was his job, he was going to do it well. He wasn't going to make it easy, but if he ran for just long enough to help the others… He remembered how Mello had told him that doing the job no one else wanted to do was just as important as anything else. He sprinted out into the crowds and waiting until the guy in the suit had caught up with him before holding onto a hat rack and completing a roundhouse kick that knocked him for six.

When he rounded the corner, he saw five guys all surrounding Nancy. She looked absolutely tiny next to them. The next thing he knew, he saw two of them collapse behind her and a glint in both her hands. She spun around to face the next three, wiping blood off of her face coolly with the back of her hand. She was terrifying, licking her lips and reaching into her jeans pocket, where she took out a glittering dagger and threw it skillfully into the chest of one man. She glared at them all and with an artful flick of her wrists both fell to their knees. Damnation stared at her in astonishment and followed her as she ran.

Sky turned his head to see a long-legged, pretty, red-haired girl donning a white blouse and a pair of black pants. She removed her shades and he made to push K in another direction. When she spotted him, her eyes widened. She made to run towards him.

"Sky, stop shoving!" K snapped. That's when she saw the girl too.

"James," the girl gasped. She, too, was American. Then she smirked. "Well, aren't you a sly boy? Ran from them, did you? Bad idea."

"What are you doing here, Aimee?" he demanded. "You guys tend not to make a habit of working at amusement parks."

"'You guys'!" she mocked. "That makes it sound like you're not one of us. Like you're an enemy."

"I'm _not _one of you, not anymore," Sky growled. "So stay the fuck away from me."

"We're after your little crew, you know," she sighed. "So permit me one thing…"

She threw a punch that Sky blocked and K countered with a fist to the stomach. The two ran in another direction, hearts pounding. They ducked behind a crate, pressing their backs to the wood.

"Why does everyone you know want to kill us?" K asked exasperatedly.

Sky peered over the crate and then ducked again. "Ex-girlfriends are usually bitches. Oh, man…"

K checked too. She saw a group of men helping the girl, Aimee, to her feet and another man who appeared to be in charge. He was clean-shaven, in his late thirties, and particularly serious-looking. He was wearing a suit, like the rest of them.

"How do you know him?" K demanded.

"He's an agent – Carl Roosevelt – he specializes in Protection and Termination; quite a contrast, I know, but the CIA's weird like that." Sky shrugged, avoiding her eyes.

"So he was protecting you or your family or what?" she pressed. "Tell me!"

"It's nothing-"

"Sky!"

"I'm ex-CIA!" he barked, silencing her. "I worked in his division for a while: he was my mentor, and… that year I'm proclaimed dead from a mugging, that was all training. That was my dad wanting me to be a national hero… and…" He sighed, lowering his voice so only she could hear. "We got a job looking after this computer tycoon or something, Clark Harris, and he had this daughter, Quinn, I-"

"You raped her?" She sounded disgusted.

"No, we just got together, and then Roosevelt caught us this one time and told the CIA it was rape. She told them that as well, trying to keep up the innocent façade. Well, Harris was pissed, tried to get me thrown in jail, and I warned him if his daughter wasn't such a whore then maybe she wouldn't have thrown herself at me and-"

"You've never raped anybody? That was the CIA lying?" K's expression was astonished.

"I didn't say I'd never raped anybody. I just didn't rape her."

"…Oh."

"So not worth it. She wasn't as pretty as some other girls I know."

Suddenly, Sky caught Roosevelt's eye and they set off again, this time with him following. She ran as fast as she could until they both reached scaffolding for a special effects show that was going to be on in about fifteen minutes. They scrambled up it quickly, Roosevelt following. Once on steady ground, they saw Roosevelt already in front of them.

"James Blue," he snarled. "You should be in prison."

"Nice to see you too, Special Agent Roosevelt," Sky spat. "How's my mother?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Fuck that! I know you were fucking my mother when I was in the CIA. So how is she? Or don't you give a shit?" he shouted.

"Wash your mouth out, boy!"

"_Make_ me!"

K got to her feet as the two fought, swinging punches and kicks faster than she had ever seen him move, and that was saying something. She noticed Rebel down below being attacked from two different groups of people. She climbed aboard a parade float so they smashed into each other. It was funny, but only one group of them looked like they were from the CIA…

"Sky! You're bleeding!" she yelled. "Let me take this one!"

"No! I've got it! I promise – I won't lose!" She heard a crack as his fist collided with Roosevelt's nose.

She moved to intervene just as a hit from Roosevelt made Sky lose his footing and fall down…

Her entire frame froze, staring at the spot in which he had just been standing. She could hear shrieks from below, confirming what she already knew – that body had struck ground. He had said he wouldn't lose. He had _promised_. Slowly, she pulled herself up to her full height, choking out the word which was stuck in her throat.

"_Sky_!" she screamed.

The sound was agonizing.

She turned to face Roosevelt, seeing him advance uneasily towards her. She took a step back onto shaky scaffolding and attempted to regain balance as she processed the scene she had just witnessed. Sky was gone, and she was trapped. There was no easy escape route from so high up. Except…

_"What if I fall?"_

_His response was an exasperated sigh. "Well, I'll catch you then, won't I?"_

_"Promise?"_

_"Yes. I promise I will catch you if you fall."_

Her expression empty, she looked at Roosevelt, reaching a hand out to grab her. Her voice was devoid of any emotion except sorrow. What she said made Roosevelt feel like he'd been stabbed with a serrated knife. It twisted into his gut.

"I'm not yours."

Then, as if she had let go of an invisible railing, she dropped backwards of her own free will. He heard more screams, not wanting to look. He heard a dull snap and trembled. He recognized the noise of a neck breaking.

Nancy looked up at the same time as both of them fell. She was already covered in blood as it was.

* * *

_As well as 'Undying Love' by Two Steps From Hell, you can also listen to 'Letters From The Sky' for the last part of this chapter, 'How To Save A Life' by The Fray or, 'Chasing Cars' by Snow Patrol._

**Preview**

"Nancy?" Slo said, horrified. "Where are they?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Her eyes were filled with tears. "One of them... they didn't make it. There was nothing we could do. I'm... I'm so sorry."

_So which one was it that we've lost? Guess in the review._

_C._


	20. How To Save A Life

The remaining eight men gathered together, awaiting Carl Roosevelt. When he eventually arrived, they watched him in shock. Truthfully, they were just a bunch of guys that were doing their job, protecting their country. These people were threatening their country. Still… they had never expected they would be a group of _kids_, of friends. They had probably been talked into doing it – such a mistake could easily be made by desperate teenagers.

"Sir, your nose looks like it's been broken," one man said.

"It'll be fine," he muttered. "Where are the other four?"

"Here," a blonde man answered. He showed Roosevelt a feisty brown-haired girl with eyes that would pierce him forever. She looked so inconsolably angry that if she were released, she would surely kill them all. "This is one of the three girls."

"Who are you fuckers?" Rebel growled. "What did you do to the others?"

"Oh, so she's American," Roosevelt sighed. "Tell me, young lady, do you hate your country?"

"What? No," she said, startled. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, obviously, since you're part of a terrorist organization-"

"_That's _what this is about?" she shrieked. "We're not _terrorists_!"

Roosevelt looked astonished for a second, then composed himself and chuckled. "They all say that."

"We're really not!" Damnation interjected. "We're in the US because there's a serial killer on the loose and we're trying to catch them. We're not causing problems for the US government. Who would seriously be that stupid-?"

"Damnation, shut up," Rebel snapped. Her head snapped around to look at Roosevelt. "Where are Sky and K? James Blue and the girl in the purple shirt? Where are they?"

"The blonde one caused a bit of trouble before our guys caught her. Five of them went down…"

"Look at his face," Nancy spat. "I saw what you did to them, you bastard."

"So we have French, American and British?" one agent said. "Sounds like a colorful gathering."

"What are you talking about?" Slo gasped. "What happened?"

"K and Sky?" Damnation froze, stopping his struggle against his captors for a second. "What…?"

"Nancy?" Slo said, horrified. "Where are they?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Her eyes were filled with tears. "One of them... they didn't make it. There was nothing we could do. I'm... I'm so sorry."

"Which one didn't make it?" Slo shouted, though he felt in his heart he already knew the answer. "Which one? Nancy, _tell me_!"

Nancy shook her head helplessly, hiding her glistening eyes. Slo felt himself growing weaker, swallowing his pride. He bit his lip and did not go against the person that was pinning his arms to his back, palm up. None of them could believe it. Rebel saw the redheaded girl that had attacked her, Aimee, come around the corner of the restaurant with Sky bleeding and battered.

"James is here, sir," Aimee said coldly. She let him go. He gritted his teeth, his bones aching. "He's a fast runner, but I caught him."

"How did he _survive_?" Roosevelt stared at the young man. "He fell thirty-five feet!"

"You know… that was a special effects show…" Sky muttered. "Meaning there were people in lifts putting up fireworks and stuff… I fell into the lift." He glanced around. "So they got all of you."

"Not all of us," Damnation said quietly.

Sky's eyes widened. "Then who…?" He went rigid. "Where's K?"

Slo's expression said it all. Sky shook off Aimee's grip and ran a hand through his hair, hiding his eyes. With his other hand, he pressed the earpiece he possessed and spoke softly. "Keira, are you there? Try and answer. Please." He brought the hand in his hair down to his side. He shook his head. "She's not answering." He rounded on Roosevelt, his fists suddenly clenching and his eyes blazing in fury. "She was up there with _you_! What the _fuck _did you do to her? She's dead because of _you_!"

"_Sky_." Rebel's voice was firm.

Aimee stepped in front of Roosevelt. "Back off, James."

"She fell of her own free will," Roosevelt explained hastily. "I was reaching out to stop her from falling. It would have been better to have her in custody… but she saw you go down. And she said something, and she just dropped backwards on purpose."

"Wait," Slo stammered, "she committed _suicide_?"

"Yes, she did," Roosevelt confirmed.

"Stop trying to pin the blame on me," Sky snarled. "It's not my fault!"

"It's not mine, either," Roosevelt shot back.

The last man turned up a few minutes later holding a female in a purple shirt. Their hearts leapt for a second. The hair… the shirt… it had to be her.

"That's the one," Roosevelt smiled. "It seems she survived too."

Suddenly, the latest addition knocked her head back against her captor and punched Roosevelt with as much force as she could manage. He went down like a sack of bricks. She tucked her hair back behind her ear. Blue eyes, instead of black, looked out at the teenagers. Obviously, it was time for the adults to intervene. She turned to the youngest-looking man on the team, the one holding onto Nancy.

"Identification," she ordered. "Now."

"Another Brit," Roosevelt said icily. "Who are you?"

"Just as the boy here said, we work for a higher authority than you. In fact, you could think of me as your boss. All of you, I want identification." She was handed all of their ID cards at once. "CIA? So you were tipped off we were terrorists? Well, well, someone was being creative…"

"The people who know we're in America…" Damnation started.

"They have control of the CIA," Nancy finished.

"That's our killer," C added. "It seems we are toying with a much more dangerous person than we first imagined. Not only are they intelligent and unpredictable, they are also _powerful_." She put her hand to her face in thought. "That's a lethal combination. We got the results for the poison and it was radioactive. So if our killer had hold of nuclear…" She shook her head. "I seem to be forgetting myself. I apologize. Now, I think I'll take these five back."

"I don't understand," Aimee mumbled. "Who _are _you?"

"We work with the detectives L and C. I think it would be best if you let us tend to our own business. If you receive any form of communication that tells you to intervene on a case on behalf of either of these names, do nothing. Stay right where you are," she said in a tone that did not permit argument. "These young adults are to come with me."

Wordlessly, they let them go. They were about ten yards away when Aimee called out to them. "Hang on a second. Only you five?"

"Yes, these five," C agreed. "Why?"

"There were others," she said. "There was another lot of people. They were chasing these guys just like we were. At first I thought they were another branch of the CIA, and then I saw one of them take out a Beretta. We don't carry Berettas."

C nodded. "I see." She glanced at Rebel. "I heard what you said to Slo. We'll be having words."

As they left, Sky spoke to C, his voice hushed.

"Do you have that… thing… in the back of the van?"

"You…" She seemed amazed. "You haven't asked since San Francisco. You were doing so well. What's brought this on?"

Sky rubbed the back of his neck. "You didn't hear about K?"

"What happened?" She froze and looked at the young man straight in his eyes. He seemed to recoil from the concern in hers.

"I think you should know…"

**XXX**

B put down the phone and processed what he had just heard. And then he let out a chilling cackle that was not practiced. Everything about it just was so perfect he could not control the laugh. He gasped for breath when he was done, smirking at the handset on the desk in front of him. He tilted his head to one side with a _crack_ before turning to the door. M was standing there, her arms folded.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked dully. "Is L dead?"

"Better," he grinned. "K committed suicide."

"What?" M's eyes widened in disbelief, and then she, too, smiled. "Are you serious?"

"Nancy just called from Los Angeles," he said. "She saw K fall from the top of some scaffolding. Nobody pushed her, and it didn't look accidental. Sky had just fallen before her. He fell into a lift and survived."

"_Excellent_!" she hissed. "Finally, somebody got the bitch… so that means L's lost his first-in-line, then? That's one out of the way. With her gone, the driving force behind L will be weakened. Seeing that she is lost, others will lose faith just as quickly."

B examined his bookshelf, leaning against the edge of the desk as he opened the drawer without looking and withdrew a jar of strawberry jam. "Wammy's is surprisingly easy to manipulate," he admitted. "Already we have made so many give up what L has spent a lifetime building. When I was here, we did not let go of our beliefs with such nonchalance."

"It took A killing themselves to realize this was not what you wanted?" M said. "You really did have reluctance to let go."

"People always misunderstand what A's intentions were in committing suicide," B answered calmly. "Some say it was the pressure of becoming L. Others say they were just tired. Some silly people say that they wanted to be with their parents."

"That's not what you say?" She frowned.

"No, it's not," B said, shaking his head. "I remember A. A was never one to give up. Alternative was not so effortlessly swayed that they would let themselves lose their mind."

"Why do you think A committed suicide, then?"

B took out a copy of a Val MacDermid book from the shelf. "A always said life was just child's play. I think they just… got bored."

**XXX**

Tony heard the cries of horror and paid them no heed. He could see someone kicking and screaming from through a crack in the bleached curtain surrounding the bed next to the person he was visiting. The woman lying there in the bed glared at him, auburn hair thick and wavy down to the small of her back. Brown eyes, which had previously twinkled with life, now were cold with being used to death. He sat down in the chair beside her bed. He wondered why, after all this time of ignoring him, his cousin had contacted him. One thought was prominent in his mind.

What had gone wrong?

"Mischa," he said quietly.

"Tony," she muttered. "We didn't manage to get your sister. I always thought Pan would be willing to come with us. She showed such promise when she was younger."

"Mischa, aren't you worried? Who you are – people will notice."

"They already have," she sighed. "The police are on their way to take me in. If I hadn't gone after Pan when she was being chased by the CIA as well… I wouldn't have gotten hurt." Her eyes suddenly became intense. "The number must remain complete, Tony. I think you're aware of that."

"It's still complete," he gabbled. "You're still alive. They-"

"Tony, the Nine must always be active. You know that. Each number can only be replaced by someone as good as they are. And you are just as good as I am, Tony," Mischa growled. "Don't try to make excuses." She wiped away the makeup on her neck, revealing a bold, black number nine tattooed across the side of her throat. "I need you to take my place."

"I can't be Nine," he stammered. "I've killed too many people already."

"Then you're well-trained. And this time, you'll have the protection of eight other people behind you. I can't do my job in jail," she explained, "but I know they won't execute me. The Nine complete governmental assassinations also. I have blackmail material. I'll be out in about five years, maybe. Then you can go back to a normal life. But don't remove the tattoo. It'll look good on you."

They both heard sirens from outside. "You want me to be the Reaper?"

She nodded, smirking. "Your sister was the original choice, but Pan has disappointed me. It's up to you now, Tony." As he made to leave, she spoke again. "Oh, and keep up with those killings or whatever you mentioned, won't you?"

"Mischa…" he mumbled.

"This is my prison sentence, Tony. The one who originally investigated me has finally gotten what he wanted. Ryuzaki has won."

"Ryuzaki?" Tony repeated, trying to pinpoint where he'd heard the name.

"Ryuzaki was the detective L."

* * *

_Virtual cookies to all of my reviewers. A quick mention to Akai-M, who got me my 60th review, and TheCatchingLightAlchemist, who got me my 50th. I think you guys rock, so I heart you. Big time!_

_C._

**Preview**

"Wow. Our killer's moving around a fair bit, isn't he?" Slo muttered.

C glanced at L swiftly. "It's time to call him in for work. He's going home."


	21. Diary Of Jane

"I thought you should know why I've called you here today," Roger croaked. His voice sounded somewhat thick, as if he couldn't really get out what he was trying to say.

"This doesn't sound good," Checkmate said to Romeo. "What d'you think has happened?"

Romeo glanced across the room at Eve Skeleter, who bowed her head and clenched her tiny white fists. Black hair fell across her face, hiding her infuriated expression. If everyone was there, it must have been something incredibly important, for it was rare that both the Beyond's kids and Wammy's joined together for an announcement. He could feel the tension in the atmosphere building. Who did this involve?

"I'm afraid one of the investigators currently in California died yesterday afternoon," the old man continued. He lowered his eyes before he spoke again. "L's first-in-line fell from thirty-five feet of scaffolding trying to tail a suspect." The intake of breath that followed was sharp and horrified. "K broke her neck in the fall."

"_No_!" gasped Romeo. "She can't have died!"

"K?" Athena repeated, clapping her hand to her mouth in shock.

"Roger," M said coolly. Her voice startled them all. She had previously been standing at the back of the room without a word. "You're lying to them. Don't you think you should admit the truth? They deserve to know."

"Truth?" Checkmate said.

"What are you talking about?" Io asked coldly. "Why would he lie saying that she is dead?"

"I'm not denying her death," M chuckled. "God, no. If anything, I'm a little smug. But she didn't die of falling from scaffolding. As much as I hate to think this, she's not that clumsy."

"So what happened?" Star demanded.

"She didn't _fall_," M smirked. "She _jumped_."

The impact these words had on her audience was obvious. Expressions of shock and disbelief froze on their faces. Clearly, they were all waiting for the 'only joking' part, which would not come. Athena had to sit down as she processed the news, and Callie wiped away forming tears. She could only imagine what Slo was going through now. Roger did not refuse these claims, instead turning away and going to sit in a comfortable chair. Of all the things he had been forced to do, declaring a child's death was one of the worst.

"When will her funeral be held?" asked Romeo quietly, his voice fading. "Will the others come back for it?"

"There have been no formal announcements made as of yet regarding K's funeral," Roger answered. "We will have to await L's word, seeing as he is her only remaining family."

B had just entered the room, grinning as he leant against the wall. He chortled at the mourners. "Why so sad?" he sighed. "There's no reason for it."

"K is _dead_!" barked Checkmate.

"Like I said, there's no reason," B shrugged.

Several of the Wammy's kids started to get up, preparing to attack him when Athena got up and said firmly, "Stop it. K wouldn't want any of us to fight. You know that. All of you, calm _down_." When everyone obeyed, she turned to B, her expression one of pure hatred. "I want you to stay from K's funeral when it is arranged. You are not permitted there."

"Oh, _scary_," B laughed. "What are you going to do about it, little girl?"

"The name is _Athena_," she snapped. "I'm not a little girl. I'm nineteen years old. I'm the daughter of a late military general and I have to make something extremely clear with you, Beyond Birthday." In a tone that sounded very much like her namesake predicted, in the manner of a wise warrior, she said so loud that everyone could hear, "_You are not welcome here_."

"Is that so…? I believed that your name was Eleni Vandoulakis," he replied.

She did not flinch when B spoke her real name to everybody in the room. She remained standing still, watching him with all the loathing her body could allow. It was Billie Jean who went to stand beside her. The second girl had no sadness in her face, instead tilting her head to one side.

"Why?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" B raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you hate K?"

"Why shouldn't I? She was related to L, who I evidently _don't like_." He said this as thought that justified his opinion of the girl.

"That's _stupid_," Billie Jean mumbled. There was a collective gasp. Nobody had ever said that outright before, not to Beyond's face. "You didn't even know her. She wasn't a bad person. She never did anything against you. She was in exactly the same position as you. She had no parents and only wanted to make the most of her life. If you had another chance to be with your family, if you had any family left, wouldn't you want to take advantage of it?"

"That is defeating the point-"

"The point of _what_? You're so focused on bringing down L that you've forgotten that all of these people sitting around you are just like you, except… maybe not so crazy, or so idiotic." She folded her arms. "So I'll ask you again. Why?"

"I would stop if I were you, Catherine Mocke," he warned.

"L didn't do anything to you," Billie Jean pointed out. "Surely if you wanted to be L you could have stayed at Wammy's to surpass him-?"

"_You suck_!" B snapped. He was obviously pleased with his not-so-witty comeback, for the Beyond's kids cheered him on. The Wammy's ones, either tearful or scowling, folded their arms, thinking how ridiculous the serial killer was.

"Oh, for God's sake…" M muttered. "You know things are bad when I have to be the fucking mature one…"

**XXX**

"You _bastard_," C hissed. "Why would you-?"

"It's all for the best," he grumbled.

"What's wrong?" Slo asked.

C frowned. "I have been trying to explain to L that I am in perfectly good health and need not stay at Jenna's today."

"Why would he think you weren't in good-?"

"She was throwing up this morning," L interrupted. "And you're still pale. I do not want you up and about when you are in this condition. It is not good for you. Stay here and recover."

"How many times must I say it?" she snarled. "I'm _fine_-"

"C, stop it. It is a well-known fact that projectile vomiting is not actually beneficial to your health. Now cease being so stubborn and remain in bed until we get back, or I shall ask Jenna to hold you down," he sighed. He glanced at the blonde. "Would you please talk some sense into her?"

Jenna cleared her throat. "I think she should go out to work as usual."

"Is everyone losing their minds here, or am I just being ignorant?" L snapped. "You _are _aware that she was being sick this morning?"

"Vomiting might not be beneficial, but fresh air will be," Slo added in. "She'll be okay. She always is."

"That is what concerns me," L murmured, running his fingers through his hair. "She doesn't make enough of a fuss when she is ill. She has to be on her deathbed for her to complain, and that is not helpful when we are trying to remedy the affliction."

"Trust me," she said. "I'll battle my way through it."

L reached for her hand. His being soft could sometimes sway her, though it was not a regular occurrence. He smiled kindly at her and waited for her to make eye contact before he spoke. This was the only tactic that would ever work, and even then, it did not always work.

"Please. I am only concerned for _you_."

"Whoa." It was Sky's voice, back to its usually cocky tone. "Am I missing something here?"

Their eye contact broke and L cursed under his breath. It would be difficult to reestablish it, especially now that Sky was so aware of their interaction. If one eye movement, one touch or a single gesture gave away too much, the truth would be unveiled and their lives would be in further danger. C knew this, and so turned away him and took her hand back.

"You feeling sick?" Sky asked. "You should stay here, then."

"No," C said firmly. "I'm going with you."

"C," L said, reverting back to his alternative tactic – nagging her until she gave in.

"Don't make me get my phone out," Sky threatened.

"_What_?" C choked out.

"I'll call someone who will be able to _make _you stay here," Sky said smugly. She raised an eyebrow so he scrolled down to the 'M's' in his contacts to call.

"_What the fuck do you want?"_

"M?" C sounded horrified.

"_Congrats, dipshit, _you _called _me_… oh, wait, hang on. Is that C?"_

She swallowed. "Yeah." Her voice came out awfully high-pitched, about four octaves higher than usual. She sounded as if she were trying to stop herself screaming.

"_What's going on?"_

"C's been sick this morning and she's refusing to stay at Jenna's," Sky explained quickly. There was a brief silence as they awaited the redhead's verdict, and then they heard a laugh.

"_Oh, man…" _she chuckled. _"You've got to be kidding me… knocked up, are we, C?"_

"No!" C protested.

"_Whose kid is it?" _she laughed.

L studied his wife's expression intently, frowning.

**XXX**

Jenna put the map on the table in front of Slo, pointing out the latest fairytale murder. He knuckled his forehead and exhaled slowly. Flint, Ludo and Bess sat across from him, watching the newest number one's mind whir. Eventually, he spoke.

"I'm so not cut out for this," he sighed. "Not so suddenly… K would be better than me at this."

"Unfortunately for you, K is dead," Irina spat from her place on the couch. She had her laptop balanced on her knees and was quickly typing out an email.

"Irina," Rebel commanded the dark-haired woman's attention fleetingly. She gestured rudely with one hand. "Fuck you, bitch." After that, she returned to her book.

"You are so immature," Irina muttered. "Can't you guys get over her dying already? Some of us just don't care much, you know? Besides, you should be happy. It was that Sky kid that killed her."

Rebel stood up sharply. "Leave Sky out of this. He had no power over any of it."

"Of _course _not," Irina said sarcastically. "_That _must be why a CIA agent that Sky was seeking revenge with went after her – because Sky had _no control_."

Slo pushed his chair out and turned away from the map. "I'm going to talk to C and L. I don't want to think about this right now." He rose from his seat and exited the room, slamming the door behind him.

"See what you've done," Irina shot at Rebel.

"What _I've _done?" she snarled. "I'm going after him. Be careful not to drown any puppies when I'm gone."

**XXX**

The banter was still continuing. M clearly believed this to be highly amusing, and so was putting in as much effort as she could to rile her friend. The pregnancy jokes were coming in so thick and fast it was a wonder C had time to reject them so strongly. When Slo entered, he heard M's voice on loudspeaker.

"_Throwing up…" _she cackled. _"Stay at home, honey, look after the kid that's on the way…"_

He froze.

"M, will you just _quit _it-?" C looked close to killing someone. Evidently, everyone else was taking M's words as a joke. Sky was laughing, thought it appeared forced. He hadn't laughed for a while.

"_I apologize if Sky's done anything to you-"_

"It wasn't _Sky_-!" C cut herself off, clapping a hand to her mouth. Wide-eyed, she stared at the phone for a few seconds. M's disembodied voice talked once more.

"…_What?"_

"M-"

Luckily for them, M was just cracking up again, thinking it funny. _"Oh, so who's done something? L, was it? L, you player! Getting C in the sack is one of your greatest achievements-"_

"What?" snapped C.

"_Oh, you didn't manage it? I'm disappointed. I wanted to hear some gruesome details. To be honest, I'm not that surprised. No one gets to sleep with C without her liking them heaps. She doesn't like you enough. She left you two years ago, so you know…" _She sighed. _"C, stay at Jenna's and recover or I'll make sure you _are _ill when you get back."_

She hung up. C turned to Sky, scowling. "Take your phone back. You just made me feel ten times worse."

"L, C," Slo said loudly. "I wanted to ask you… is it true we are moving out to Las Vegas in two days' time?"

"Yes. There was a Rapunzel killing in Nevada yesterday evening," L answered.

There was a pause as Sky left the room.

"Wow. Our killer's moving around a fair bit, isn't he?" Slo muttered.

C glanced at L swiftly. "It's time to call him in for work. He's going home."

"Who are we talking about?" Slo asked nervously.

"Our underworld spy," L admitted. "His name is Donny Kanaan. He is a former conman. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't very good at it. He was caught within hours."

"He lives in Las Vegas?" he checked.

"Yep. Jenna called him up to San Diego, but that is unnecessary now. He can get back to Vegas before us and we'll meet him then," C said calmly. "It seems somebody dangerous is in Sin City and if they're up to no good, Donny Kanaan will find them." She glanced at L. "Give it one more day. Then we'll transfer to Vegas."

* * *

_For those of you who are wondering, I used the acoustic (piano) version of 'Diary of Jane' by Breaking Benjamin for this chapter, and not the original, although I do adore both versions._

**Preview**

He fitted in well with the Las Vegas atmosphere. He had put gloves on to cover up the blood on his hands.

Then he saw her, the one from before.

So he ran.

_Three guesses as to who 'he' is, and two as to who 'she' is._

_C._


	22. Eyes On Fire

Tony walked the streets he knew so well, so full of impersonators (one Jack Sparrow one wandered the sidewalks with a snake around his neck), tourists and dodgy tradesmen that constantly kept trying to give you cards with pictures of naked women on them and a number beneath. His breath caught every time people brushed past him in the unending crowds. He could hear the screams in his head as people saw the gun strapped to his hip.

He was almost run over by an ambulance, but was too focused on hiding what was beneath his gleaming, pristine white jacket to curse the speeding vehicle. He wondered if it was his fresh kill in that ambulance, driving at breakneck speed to Las Vegas General.

He fitted in well with the Las Vegas atmosphere. He had put gloves on to cover up the blood on his hands.

Then he saw her, the one from before.

So he ran. Right towards her. It had to be fate, _destiny_, that she and he were in the same city at the same time. They had met in San Francisco and now, just when he was living in Las Vegas, there she was again. She glanced around the streets, searching for someone. Was it him?

"_Ana_!" he yelled out. "Ana, it's me! It's Tony-"

She was suddenly joined by a lanky, pale, dark-haired man that reminded Tony of a zombie. He remembered what she had said before – surely _this _couldn't be her boyfriend? He was so… freaky-looking. And serious. Deadly serious. Yet it had to be the case, considering the protective way the man was looking at Ana. She pointed out a hotel to the pale man – the Paris-Paris – and led him towards the massive Eiffel Tower replica that had been constructed outside the hotel.

That's when he noticed the teenagers that she had mentioned also, only there were not six. There were five.

And one of them was his sister.

He sprinted towards them. He narrowly avoided the traffic, deciding to get to the hotel before them. They had taken the bridge over the road – the slower yet definitely safer way. He slid over the bonnet of a cab and reached the sidewalk after about six lanes. They were just in front of him. He ran a little further, skidding to a halt after he crashed into a blonde girl who let out a small squeal.

"Who the hell was that?" she gasped. She sounded French.

"Not me," a long-haired boy interjected.

"Sorry," Tony stammered. "So sorry…"

"_Tony_?" The name came from two different directions. One was his sister, looking extremely pissed and humiliated. The other was Ana, looking astonished and slightly horrified. The man that could have been Ana's boyfriend was scowling at him with a mixture of disgust and impatience. Ugh; how could Ana be dating this jerk?

"Hang on a second," Ruby said. She turned to the woman. "You _know _him?"

"We met in San Francisco," Ana choked out. Her voice had completely changed – she was fucking _British_. "How do you know him?"

"He's…" She evaded everyone's eyes and bit her lip before responding properly. "He's my big brother."

There was a low whistle from the long-haired boy. "Family issues, much?"

"Wait a moment," L snapped. "Where did you meet him in San Francisco?"

"A bar, but-"

"A _bar_?"

"It's not how it sounds-"

"Fuck it, Tony!" Ruby barked. "Is it impossible to stay out of the way?"

And all the while, Tony Rodrigo Callahan was still sitting back on his ass on the sidewalk, having knocked over a French girl and not yet gotten to his feet.

This was a time when the shit just happened to hit the fan.

**XXX**

L scowled out into the arced sidewalk that made up the entrance under the wrought-iron awning of the Paris-Paris Hotel. Inside, the ceiling had been painted as a sky, with a casino apparent as soon as one entered, and the lobby under some glittering crystal chandeliers beside a French street. Each store had been made to look like a shop or a house, and several patisseries and restaurants lined the 'streets'. Even the floor had cobblestones.

He was on the verge of fury. Really, how could his wife meet another man in a bar and not tell him? This was the time that she was angry with him, he was sure of it. What had happened between the two that made Rebel's older brother, this _Tony_, so devoted? He clenched his teeth. Slo eventually joined him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"She – is – unbelievable," he muttered.

Slo rocked back on his heels, folding his arms as he appraised Tony, who was being talked to by both Rebel and C. "Aside from the stupid boots and the snazzy jacket, he's not bad-looking."

"_Thank you_, Slo, for making me feel so much better," he intoned sarcastically.

"What?" Slo shrugged. "I'm being honest. I guess it might be me being biased because he's got Rebel's genetics, but to be fair, if I was a girl, I'd date him."

"Slo," L said coldly. He waited until Slo looked at him. "Shut up. Seriously."

"Dude, she's arguing with him. She doesn't like him," he pointed out. "Look. She liked you for years after she met you. _You're _the one she's married to, not him."

"She's arguing with him…" L exhaled slowly. "So she can't like him? Slo, she and I fought for all the years we knew each other, and all that time, we had feelings for each other. People said we liked each other more _because _we fought. They said we were just hiding it, and partially, we were. This Tony guy, he's closer to her age than I am, by the look of him, is more conventionally attractive…"

"C's not _conventional_." Slo burst out laughing. "Is that what you're worried about? You look heaps younger than your real age. In the nine years she's known you, she told me you've not changed in the least physically. L, you're the one wearing the ring… metaphorically. Obviously, you're not wearing it _now _because you're keeping it a secret, but man, she has more than one reason to be tied to you."

Sky walked over to stand with them. Tony shook his head outside and then set off. It was like a firework went off in the young man's head. This was something he had seen before… where had he seen it?

_Before he followed her, he saw flashing lights somewhere in the unlit realm of Los Angeles, not far from the building they had just left. It only lasted a second, and so he dismissed the thought as inconsequential._

The lights that he'd seen were now flashing in the heels of Tony Callahan's shoes. And he was walking in the opposite direction. Away from the two females who could easily have stopped him.

Oh, _hell no_!

His feet were in control, not his brain. If his brain had been in control, he wouldn't have run into a car. He heard Rebel scream and, unable to move without hurting, he saw Tony's feet pounding against the tarmac as he began to run from him.

"No…" he groaned, gritting his teeth when he found that lifting his leg was painful. Suddenly, Rebel was standing over him, reaching into her pocket for a cell phone. He heard enraged drivers pressing their car horns incessantly and the whispering of people all around him. He managed, with great effort, to raise his hand in an attempt to get Rebel's attention. "Tony," he spat. "Go after him…"

"Don't move," C instructed. "Rebel, tell the others what's happened after you've made the call."

"Tony…" Sky choked out.

"Don't speak," she whispered. "It's okay. We're going to get you to hospital."

"How fast was the car traveling?" L's voice now.

"About thirty miles per hour," C answered. "If we get him to hospital fast, he'll be okay. We're lucky it was thirty."

"You his momma?" The driver who'd hit him was talking. God, his voice was annoying. Sky wanted to get up and knock him unconscious.

"His guardian," C responded sharply.

"I di'n't mean to hit him, lady. He ran out in front'a me!" the man was still going. Could someone shut him up already?

"We're not losing another one," C growled at L.

"We didn't lose anything!" L snapped.

"What are you talking about? K is-"

"C…"

All Sky could hear was his own jagged breathing and approaching sirens. What he wanted to hear, the rest of L's sentence, was cut off.

**XXX**

The hospital was, for the most part, sparkling white. When Sky woke up, he saw an IV drip leading into his arm. Gingerly, he lifted his hand and touched the side of his head. His skull felt tight, which was understandable considering a bandage was wrapped around it. What were they doing tying it so securely? Were they worried his head was going to split in two?

He was watching the corridor through a crack in the curtains encasing his bed. After about an hour, he'd seen approximately five drunk guys being wheeled through the ward to have their stomachs pumped, two women who'd been involved in the world's biggest catfight and a little boy that had broken his leg trying to run down an escalator that was going upwards.

Eventually, a nurse turned up and drew the curtains aside. "Good evening, young man," she said politely. "How are you feeling?"

"I got hit by a car," he pointed out. "How am I meant to feel?"

"Aw, bless your heart," she twanged. She sounded like she was from Oklahoma or something, not Nevada. Her hair had been bleached blonde, which gave Sky the impression that before she'd become a nurse, she'd come to Las Vegas searching for fame and fortune, or something typical like that.

"So what's wrong with me?" he sighed.

"Two broken ribs, nasty head injury, a burn where you slid across the tarmac on your back and a sprained wrist. You were extremely lucky," she said. "Obviously, you still got a few bruises. It would be strange if you hadn't. But that driver stopped short of killing you. Your friends were very quick to save you. They clearly have cool heads in a crisis."

"We're used to it," he chuckled without humor.

"You don't sound like you're from around here."

"Neither do you," he shot back. "Where are you from?"

"Tulsa, Oklahoma," she smiled. "You?"

"Seattle, Washington."

"Little fish in a big pond, huh?" she said kindly. "I'll go get y'all something to drink. I think they might'a given you a blood transfusion, so y'all might be a bit woozy. I'm Edie Jenkins. What's your name again?" He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, unsure of which name they had checked him in under. "In fact, don't tell me. I'll go find out for myself."

He let out a breath of relief when she'd gone. Thank God for the enthusiasm of Tulsans, he thought. He pushed himself to sit up and winced when he felt his bad wrist twinge. It was only in an elasticized bandage since he had not actually managed to break his wrist, only sprain it. Although upright, he permitted himself to sink back against his pillows. Now he thought about it, the ribs he'd broken – on his right side – were aching. They had most likely taped them up on his arrival.

He could finally see who else was in the ward with him. Across the room from him was a teenage boy that was screwing around with his neck brace. Every so often, he'd give up and pout for a bit, and then he'd start again. In the bed next to Neck-Brace Kid was an average-looking girl with her arm in a sling and a few scratches stitched up on her face. Sky wondered if she'd split her lip in her accident or whether it was coincidentally lopsided. The bed closest to the window on their row was empty. Another nurse, a middle-aged one, was making the bed and puffing up the pillows.

Edie returned with a glass of water and placed it on the bedside table to Sky's right, causing him to glance at the patient in the bed to the right of him. For a second, his heart stopped. He must have been seeing things. The patient to his right looked like a ghost, pale and perfect. They could have been dead for all anybody knew, unmoving, with their eyes closed. They were barely breathing, for their chest did not rise and fall.

"Are you all right, Sky?" asked Edie. Some insignificant part of his brain registered that Sky was the name he had been signed in under. The rest was in overdrive. Nobody else was looking at the patient. Could they not see them? Was he imagining it?

Edie chuckled, following his eyeline. "She just transferred here from Los Angeles. Pretty girl, ain't she? I see what's caught your eye with her."

Edie could see her? She was _there_? He wasn't dreaming?

"Tell what ya what, honey," she whispered. "I'll tell you what her name is to give y'all a head-start with her. It'll impress a girl that you've been asking after her." She bent down to murmur in his ear. "Her name's Kenzie."

_Kenzie_. That was the name she'd been using when she'd been in San Francisco. L had probably known she'd survived the fall somehow and had called the emergency services to save her, going along with everyone saying she was dead because it was highly likely she was going to be, and he didn't want to get everyone's hopes up. Something clicked in Sky's head. L had never said out loud, 'K's dead'. He had never admitted to any of it. It was only rumors…

Edie left the ward to attend to other duties, leaving Sky staring at the girl he'd believed was dead for a while longer. Then he heard Neck-Brace Kid speak up.

"Quit gawking at her, you weirdo," he said icily. "She's way outta your league."

"You're just jealous," Lip Girl interrupted him. "You won't get a chance with her. You're like a five-year-old."

"Can it, Angela," Neck-Brace Kid snapped.

"Make me!" Angela growled.

"Both of you, _shut up_." K still hadn't opened her eyes. "If someone's looking at me, let them look. I'm enough of a freak show as it is. I don't care."

"So you haven't changed."

K's eyes snapped open. She turned her head and gaped at Sky.

She sounded like she was being strangled. "What are _you _doing here?"

* * *

_I heart Tony, bless him. The others rock, too. I went to Las Vegas this summer and was able to stay at the Paris-Paris Hotel for about four days, so I know what it looks like and that is how I was capable of giving an accurate description. I totally recommend it - the place is stunning._

**Preview**

"L, I think you should look at this-"

"Not right now-"

"No, _really_."

_So what's happened? The truth is it's been pretty obvious throughout all of the chapters, you just have to think outside of the box. 2 guesses in each review!_

_C._


	23. Brand New Day

Everyone was feeling the hard-hitting death of L's first-in-line. Those who had known her closely cried, and those who had spoken to her once or twice sobbed harder, feeling guilty that they had not gotten to know her when she was alive. Athena had been strong for the first couple of days, then broken down in tears. Romeo had sought comfort in Flo, who had been particularly kind. This was unexpected considering her association with Beyond and M, yet it seemed she was just as innocent as Eve or Rachel.

How were L and C coping, Romeo wondered? It must have been awful for them to be so close to their niece and lose her so suddenly. It reminded him of his brother. First Hamlet, and now K? Was the world out to kill anyone that meant anything to the young man? That was how it felt. It was as if everything reminded the Wammy's kids of K, and the atmosphere was weighted with sorrow. Each word spoken was hushed, each lesson taught with much less force, each rumor circulated so quickly that it was difficult to tell what was true and what wasn't.

The ones who cared the least for respecting the girl's memory were M and B, both seeming overjoyed at the lack of effort from Wammy's kids now. It seemed even Athena had lost her ability to resist, hearing how her friend, one of the strongest, had surrendered. The thought that K had not died by accident, but had purposefully killed herself, was a massive blow to the remaining faith.

It was one night when Romeo was lying awake, his mind too busy to sleep, that his phone began to buzz. Seeing an unknown number, he held it at arm's length for a short while. He grimaced, and then he answered.

"Who is this?" he muttered. "I'm really not in the mood for prank calls. We can track this-"

"I _told _you he'd be half-asleep-"

"_Sky_?" Romeo sat upright, reaching across to switch his bedside lamp on. "What are you calling me for?"

"Um… Romeo…" He sounded really embarrassed. "Did you hear about K?"

"Of course I did." His mood darkened again. "Is that what you called for? You wanted to gloat, is that it?"

"Wow, people _really _don't like you-"

Romeo would have said that he fell out of bed, but that wasn't enough. He ended up barrel-rolling off of it. He heard his name being repeated in question, yet found himself incapable of answering. He could not believe whose voice he was hearing, unless he had actually managed to fall asleep and was dreaming.

After hearing his name said approximately four times, her voice came again. "You fucking killed him through the phone!"

"I didn't! That was your fault!"

"You _killed _him! You bastard; I liked Romeo!"

Romeo scrambled back onto his bed and picked up his phone again, holding it to his ear. "Is that… _K_?"

"Yeah," K answered coolly. "Of course it is! Who d'you think it was, Princess Peach?"

"K, you're… you're meant to be _dead_." His face was lighting up he was so happy. "I can't believe it! What happened?"

It was silent for a moment. Her voice came out thicker than she'd intended. "I'm meant to be dead?"

"We didn't think you would survive," Sky cut in quickly. "Look at me… no, _look _at me. You're fine. It doesn't matter. Romeo knows now, and so will the others when they visit tomorrow. The case has delayed them, but they will be here."

"Where _are _you?" Romeo asked, stunned. Part of him was stunned at how both of them were living and breathing; the other part was processing how gentle Sky was being with K, who up until recently had been the worst of enemies with her.

"Hospital, in Las Vegas," K admitted. "Sky got hit by a car."

"Holy crap! Are you both all right?" Having now established his friend was alive, it was time to check they weren't missing an arm or a leg or something. It was quiet down their end. He tried again, hoping they hadn't been caught calling someone when they shouldn't have been. "Guys? All limbs attached?"

"We're both great," Sky sighed. "You know, broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, burns, sprained wrist and ankle, the works, but we're all good."

"Oh, Christ, that sounds painful."

"Yeah…" For some reason, Romeo didn't think Sky was really listening to the previous comment, or talking about it. "It hurts pretty bad."

"Is K still there?"

"Knocked out, I think. She got a dose of painkillers earlier. She's absolutely exhausted." He paused. "We'll see you when we get back, Romeo. I think K needed to hear someone's voice… someone she can trust."

"Can't she trust you-?" He was cut off by the beeping in his ear, indicating that the second party to the conversation had just hung up. He glanced at his phone, processing everything he had just participated in. Then he slid out from under his bedcovers and made his way to Io, Athena and Billie Jean's room.

**XXX**

"You told him that you were being taken by the police?"  
"Of course I did," she chuckled. "I would never have gotten him to join if I hadn't. Poor, defenseless Mischa, being taken away from the thing she loved to do most… it would force him to do it. It's really time that my cousin learned to nut up a bit."

"And what of the girl, Pan?"

She sighed. "Pan is, after all, just a child. I was younger than her when I joined the Nine, and I think she needs time before we consider her. The Nine strengthened me… but she has killed her entire family. It will weaken her." She pressed a hand to her forehead. "Besides, Ruby Pandora has formed some kind of tie, a tie that she will not confess to. When that tie is realized, she will not be able to control it, young as she is. When that happens…"

Mischa slammed down her glass of sangria and exhaled. "I do not want to be the one she kills."

"She will kill someone?" They sounded awed.

"Pan is a sociopath," she laughed. "Of course she will. She is not at all accustomed to true affection. Anything at all resembling more than sexual interest will break her." She studied the knife in her delicate white fingers. "I should know."

"Not to speak out of turn, Reaper, ma'am, but how…?"

"Several reasons, Nurse. Firstly, she was physically and sexually abused as a child, so finds it difficult to believe that someone should have genuine interest in her. Then there's the fact that she is almost exactly like me. I once met a very… interesting… man, and when I found he actually liked me as more than an attractive object, I killed a rather big group." She shrugged. "It just so happens that we Callahan women have a bit of a habit of liking _good _men. For example, mine… he was an investigator."

**XXX**

There had been a double homicide the day they had arrived in Las Vegas, yet truthfully, that was not why L was in a bad mood. L put the case file down in front of C as she drank her coffee. His expression was stony and irritable.

"Good morning to you, too," she said, frowning. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he muttered. "Honestly, I'm fine. How's the coffee?"

He reached across the table to take the case file back but was stopped by her hand on his. When he looked up, she arched a questioning eyebrow. L immediately regretted the way he had been behaving. It always ended up with him looking like an immature fool.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" C asked.

"I don't-"

"Don't try lying to me, L. I know you well enough to realize when you're pissed. Is this about me taking some time off work in San Francisco? Is it about Tony?" Her eyes implored him to answer. She was not upset. She truly wished to know what she had done wrong. "Are you angry that I spoke to him when he's Rebel's brother?"

Slo came to borrow the case file. L nodded to him in acknowledgement as he left their table to join Rebel, Damnation and Nancy for breakfast. C did not even glance at the alleged latest first-in-line. Her eyes were fixed on her husband. He, too, was careful not to look anywhere else.

"I'm not angry that you talked to… Tony," he sighed. "I just don't want to lose you. I suppose I misunderstand the situation."

"_Lose_ me?" she repeated disbelievingly. "L…" She bowed her head. She made a sound that he mistook for crying. When she lifted her head, he realized she was chuckling at him. "Oh, L, that's so brilliant…"

"Brilliant?" His expression was bemused.

"L, you're so _funny_," she smiled. "Really… you thought I'd suddenly fallen for… that's just _hilarious_!"

"How is this situation comical in any manner?" He frowned.

"Partially, it's you being so jealous," she laughed, resting her chin in one hand. "It's so cute. The other side of it is… seriously, L? Tony? The man must be gay. You saw the boots we was wearing, didn't you? And he's Rebel's brother! And I'm…" She shook her head, deciding maybe now was not the right time to say the word 'pregnant'. She squeezed his hand. "I love you. Some idiot in boots that light up isn't going to change that."

"They lit up?"

"Are you sure you're not gay?" she asked.

"One-hundred percent certain," he grinned. He leant in to kiss her when Slo put the case file down on the table and interrupted them. He cleared his throat. "Slo, there's a time to interrupt someone-"

"L, I think you should look at this-"

"Not right now-"

"No, _really_." He pointed to the case file. "Look at the map. We highlighted the roads we were going to take from place to place, right?"

"You thought it appropriate to ask me about our journey-?"

"No, I mean, _look _at the map. Rebel noticed it. We were just thinking about far we'd traveled as the crow flies. So we drew straight lines from place to place. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas. They form something here." He took a pen out of his pocket and sketched the lines. "It's a letter, and not just any letter."

"An L," C murmured. "It may just be coincidence."

"But haven't the killings all been stupidly scattered? Like, ridiculously random?"

"Are you enjoying the alliteration there, Slo?" C raised an eyebrow.

"All are major cities where the killings could make an impact," Slo insisted. "And if you consider it, this must have been well thought-out. Dockery's father, all of the killings happening in one city at first to get us over here… doesn't it make sense?"

Rebel was suddenly at his shoulder. "Look, guys, it's gotta be that this was set up just for us."

"Okay, okay," L said. "So let's say we agree with your hypothesis. Let's go through the fairytales quickly."

"Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella," C counted them off on one hand.

Damnation and Nancy took seats beside her. "Snow White," he added.

"The Three Little Pigs," Nancy said. "And Jack and the Beanstalk yesterday."

"So we don't really have any suspects right now," Rebel shrugged. "We have something new to go on, and I have a gut feeling this is not just a stab in the dark. I may not be a Wammy's kid, but I do I have a decent level of intelligence. I think someone's in on this."

"Yes, well, that's obvious-"

"She means one of ours," C corrected him. She turned to Rebel. "Who were you thinking?"

"It's got to be someone in America, evidently, and someone who knows us well enough to know our plans. It's probably one of the first generation Wammy's kids or one member of this group now." Her expression said it all. She suspected someone strongly, and just wasn't saying it. "I think it's Irina."

"What?" Damnation nearly fell off his chair.

"That's a heavy accusation, Rebel," C informed her. "You do know that?"

"Of course."

"It's a bell you can't un-ring," L pointed out. "You know now you've said it, you can't take it back easily?"

Rebel nodded.

"Very well. Rebel, we have very limited options. If you think there's a chance it could be Irina behind all of this, I suppose she does fit the profile. We cannot confront her, for it would alert her to our intentions, and it would give her a chance to run." L put his thumb to his bottom lip. "If it is indeed Irina, or one of our own, the killer must have an accomplice. No one person could evade a team like ours for this long."

"There's a problem," C muttered. "How are we supposed to know what sort of fairytale is next, or who could be a potential victim?"

"Little Red Riding Hood," Slo murmured. "Cinderella, Snow White, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk… why is this so familiar?"

He suddenly stopped, his entire body rooting itself to the spot. If everything was based around Wammy's, then there was a possibility they had not taken into account. Maybe they had _already seen it_.

"Beauty and the Beast," he whispered.

"Say again?" Damnation said.

"It's Beauty and the Beast," he repeated slowly.

"And how do you know that?" Nancy demanded.

"It's the _contents_," he hissed. "It's the order of stories in a fairytale book in a room at Wammy's House. Specifically… my room. I read the book the first night I ever spent at Wammy's – I know the goddamn thing off by heart! Why did I never think of this before?"

Unexpectedly, L began to smile. "I think we have some others who will be glad you read that book, Slo." He glanced at C. "We'd better get to hospital."

"I'll buy the grapes."

* * *

_I just discovered 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog' and I was surprised by how much I liked it. It's kind of funny - think Megamind, but live-action, shorter and a bit more mature. Virtual cookies to Akai-M, reviewer number 70!_

**Preview**

"So that's Donny Kanaan?" Rebel asked. "No wonder he got caught with fraud. He sticks out like a sore thumb."

"It's how he got the sore thumb I don't wanna know about," Damnation muttered.\

_How many of you thought about it, and went back to any fairytale references?_

_C._


	24. Spotlight

"What time are they meeting you?"

When he didn't answer, she nodded to her cohort, who jammed the barrel of the gun he was holding a little further into the man's back. Their victim whimpered in a similar manner to that of an abused puppy, yet still admitted nothing. She folded her arms and crossed her ankles as she leant against the wall behind her. She sighed audibly.

"I am not a patient woman, Mr. Kanaan," she murmured. "And as you may have already noticed, I have more than one person at my disposal."

Kanaan swallowed. "I… I really d-don't know anything!" he stammered.

He waited in fear for her reaction. It surprised and frightened him when she threw back her head and began to laugh. It was not a pleasant laugh; it spoke volumes of her personality. It was cold, disappointed and knowing. He felt the gun being removed from his back and breathed a sigh of relief. He made to stand up, but could not when he found a knife's edge at his throat. She stopped laughing abruptly. It made a shiver run down Kanaan's spine.

"Mr. Kanaan," she cooed scarily, her lips at his ear. "You seem to misunderstand. Permit me to make this _perfectly clear_, since you appear to believe I am a merciful individual." She flattened the blade against his jugular. "You have ten seconds to tell me where and when you are meeting Ryuzaki."

"W-what?" he gulped. "I-I d-don't understand…"

"I'm well aware of that, Mr. Kanaan," she growled.

"No, it's just… Ryuzaki?" he mumbled. "I never meet with Ryuzaki!"

"Don't lie to me, Mr. Kanaan," she snarled. "I know you have been Ryuzaki's spy for eighteen months after you were charged with fraud and petty theft."

"It's not that!" he protested. "I meet someone on _behalf _of Mr. Ryuzaki!"

"Who?" she demanded.

"What do you want with-?"

"_Tell me_, Kanaan, or you will lose your head!" she barked. "That's a promise!"

"Ana MacDermid!" he gasped as she yanked on his hair. "Her name is Ana MacDermid!"

"Ana MacDermid," she repeated, tasting the name. "So where and when?"

"Caesar's Palace Casino," he choked out, "at nine-thirty tonight."

He fell forward when she let go of his hair and removed the knife from its position.

"Get out," she spat. "I have what I need from you."

**XXX**

Hospitals gave Damnation the heebie-jeebies, big time. All these sterilized people going about their business in a robotic, orderly manner without so much as glancing at the visitors to the establishment. He gripped Nancy's hand tightly as they entered, hoping she would think he was trying to comfort her. He avoided Slo's eyes as they took the flights of stairs till they got to the teenager ward.

"Wait here," L instructed them all. He went over to a nurse. The teens saw him mouth the words, 'Sky' and, 'Saxon'. She gestured to the edge of the ward. She indicated that L should follow her. "This way, everyone."

"Sky is right through here," the nurse beamed. "Sky, visitors for you-"

She flung open the curtains to reveal a girl sitting cross-legged and arms folded on Sky's bed in a pair of jeans and a white blouse. She arched an eyebrow and tilted her head to one side with a cool smile. The teens' eyes widened in shock and L shifted his weight nervously. Her voice was like poisonous chocolate – inviting, but dangerous.

"Where's Sky?" L asked, his voice not shaky in the least.

"He's gone to get us some coffees," she answered. "I said I'd keep an eye out for you."

"Oh, sorry, this is Kenzie," the nurse explained. "She and Sky have been very good friends since they met yesterday."

L did not wait for confirmation of whether the implication of that last sentence was just as perverted as it sounded. As if to torment him (even if the innuendo was unnecessary and untrue), K ran her tongue over her teeth. Once the nurse had disappeared down the corridor, she slid off of the end of the bed and went to hug Slo, who was still processing her presence. Damnation came up behind her and hugged her too. She winced, still a bit sore from the fall.

"Dislocated fucking shoulder, Damn," she told him through gritted teeth.

"Oh! Sorry," he mumbled, feeling a bit stupid. He released her.

"You didn't know," she muttered, "it's fine."

He bit his lip. "Really?"

"Well, it hurts like fuck," she admitted. She studied his crestfallen expression for a moment, letting go of Slo. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, come here, then."

His face lit up as he put his arms around her carefully. She chuckled at his childlike behavior.

"Hey, little brother," she teased. "I missed you."

Rebel nodded, smiling at K. Of course, Nancy disregarded any of the advice K had just given concerning her recently dislocated shoulder – not to mention several various injuries that generally occur when you fall from scaffolding – and threw her skinny arms around her waist with a delighted squeal. K's first instinct was to pry the French girl from her, then decided to be friendly. She patted her head, considering how much smaller than her Nancy was.

L looked anxious, having gone along with everyone else's belief that K was no longer with them. C embraced her niece without a word, then spoke after she had let her go. "We're so happy to have you back," she said warmly. She glanced at L. "I can guarantee you that next time L does something stupid, I will kick him somewhere painful."

Aforementioned detective frowned. "I'll keep that one in mind."

The girl with her arm in a sling, the one from Sky's first night in hospital, Angela, bounded over as quickly as she could to say hi. Unfortunately, she lost her footing on the squeaky marble floor and fell backwards. Sky caught her and helped her back to her feet. He had managed not to spill any of the coffee he held.

"Thank you, Sky!" she gasped.

"Uh… you're welcome?" He glanced around the room awkwardly. "Just… uh… I don't know… just don't fall over, 'kay?"

"Okay, Sky!" she giggled. The next thing they know, she had set off towards K. He followed on, shaking L's hand and patting Damnation and Slo on the back with his good hand. Rebel, Nancy and C hugged him each in turn.

"How are you doing?" Rebel asked. "You look better than when I last saw you."

"I'm not bad," he sort-of shrugged. "Been stuck with this one since I got hit by a car. How unlucky can you get?" He jabbed his thumb in K's direction.

"_Excuse _me!" she snapped. She punched him on the arm, hard. "You're worse than me! Honestly, this guy-"

He grabbed her fist with his good hand and lowered it. "Chill out!" he laughed. "I was kidding!" She grinned and hit him again. "I give, I give!"

"That was for kicking me this morning," she smirked. "You have cold feet!"

"You steal the covers."

"You _slept _together?" Slo choked out.

"Technically, she fell asleep on me," Sky pointed out. "But I wasn't going to let her get cold, was I? She'd kill me in the morning."

"Sky is so considerate," Angela crooned.

"Really?" the two Beyond's girls blurted out in surprise. Rebel then spoke on her own, trying not to laugh. "So Sky's a nice guy?"

"Oh, yes," Angela agreed. "He's very sweet."

Nancy and Rebel couldn't hold it in any longer. They both cracked up laughing. Sky kicked the side of Rebel's leg not-so-subtly. She let out a little yelp.

"He's very gentle with Kenzie," Angela went on.

Sky and K went bright scarlet, leaving Slo, Damnation, Nancy and Rebel to laugh this time. C merely eyed the pair with interest, L scowling. She nudged him. L cleared his throat. "I wanted you two to know they're going to discharge you with some medication and prescribe you some rest and time off 'school'."

"He got hit by a car," said Nancy. "Only _he_ would get off that lucky."

"I'll just go freshen up," he said. "Give me a sec."

"I'll finish this coffee by myself, then," K muttered, stealing a cup from him. "If you don't want it…"

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh, that's not happening. I bought the coffee."

"But you don't want it…"

He sighed. "Fine, I'll drink it."

She ruffled his hair teasingly. "That's the spirit. Hurry up, then. I want to get back to work before Christmas, you know."

He downed the scorching coffee, handed her the empty cup, then went to go clean his teeth. K chuckled, glancing at C. "He's so easy, bless him."

**XXX**

Slo adjusted his black jacket and tossed Damnation his. They left the men's bathroom and walked out into the casino, glancing over at Rebel in her showgirl-waitress clothing. Her earpiece was hidden under thick waves of auburn hair (she had washed the brown dye out since it was fading anyway), Nancy's earpiece hidden by her blonde curls. She had taken to the stage as one of the backup dancers.

Slo and Damnation took a place by the bar, watching out casually for C entering the casino. Slo noticed the slightest baby bump showing underneath a black cocktail dress. She glanced around the room for a second, walking past the Cleopatra head of the stage-ship. She finally joined the table of a tall, slim, dark-haired man in a suit similar to that of Slo and Damnation.

"So that's Donny Kanaan?" Rebel asked. "No wonder he got caught with fraud. He sticks out like a sore thumb."

"It's how he got the sore thumb I don't wanna know about," Damnation muttered.

"What do you mean?" Slo arched an eyebrow.

"Come on, man," Damnation laughed. "Look at how groomed he is. My gaydar is on overdrive."

"What are you talking about?" Slo shook his head. "He's not gay."

"Oh, yes, he is," Rebel said. "Damnation's got a point. He keeps applying hand cream. And I could have sworn he's been checking out the waiters who walk past, not the waitresses."

"Guys, shut up," Nancy hissed. "I can't hear what they're saying!"

"Mr. Kanaan," C said pleasantly, shaking Kanaan's hand and taking a seat opposite him. "I trust you had a good trip."

"Of course, Ana," he said. "Might I suggest the champagne here? It's fabulous."

"Beep, beep, beep," murmured Damnation.

"As I'm sure you remember, Mr. Kanaan, I prefer to keep my business and pleasure separate," she said calmly. "I won't be consuming alcohol. And I believe that since this is professional, you should refrain from referring to me by my first name."

"He got _told_," Damnation chuckled. Slo elbowed him sharply. "Ow!"

"So I still am not allowed to meet Mr. Ryuzaki?" he sighed. "That's disappointing. I have been your spy for a long time."

"Eighteen months, Mr. Kanaan," C reminded him. "And a spy has more dignity. I prefer to think of you as a criminal-turned-snitch."

He wrung his hands sheepishly. "That's quite a long title to put on my résumé."

"Regardless, I think you should know the reason we see it fit to hire you at this time," she murmured. "As you know, the terms are that we pay you when you get information. It's a simple system. You're a professional gambler. I'm sure you'll find something to put the money towards. Anyway, have you met anybody new to the city? You need to look out for a person, most likely male due to the nature of the murders, whose childhood or teen life was destroyed. They're jealous and immature but careful and dangerous."

"You've been doing your homework," he muttered. "I don't know… I arrived back in the city a few days ago. I met with the old crowd… but there was a new guy there, now you mention it. I spoke to him when he was buying a drink… what was his name…?"

Rebel straightened up as she carried the tray of drinks to another table. Once she had returned the tray to the bar, she glanced around the casino. Her entire frame went rigid when a large, six foot nine man with black hair and brown, sleepy-looking eyes entered the casino. She knew him. The Butcher, Alonso Bellini. He was Three from the Nine. If he was here…

An old man hobbled into the casino, a man who had once ordered that Rebel be shot at – shortly before she had met M and Beyond. The Chairman, Oliver Thompson, was tall and wiry, with grey hair. His complexion was pasty and he appeared feeble, but she knew he could kill with the vim and vigor of a man a third of his age. So that made two of them. There were seven left.

And so six turned up – the eight there consisted of the Chairman, the Bodyguard, the Butcher, the Nurse, the Mechanic, the Professor, the Undertaker and, finally, the Reaper. Where was the Actor…? But never mind that; Seven was not Rebel's concern. The Reaper was the one that terrified her.

The Reaper, Nine… her cousin Mischa.

She began to make her way across the room towards C and Kanaan, but a man stood in her way demanding another tray of drinks. She attempted to move him out of the way and failed. She stuck her thumb and her index finger between her lips and whistled as loud as she could. Nancy's head snapped up. Rebel jerked her head in the direction of the advancing assassins.

Nancy's eyes widened.

Mischa was heading in C and Kanaan's direction.

That was when the seven there aside from Mischa withdrew handguns from their pockets.

* * *

_The song was not, in fact, Jennifer Hudson's version of 'Spotlight', but Christina Aguilera's from the new movie 'Burlesque'._

**Preview**

"So you work with Ryuzaki?" she cackled. "You don't seem like... colleagues."

"And you don't seem any younger than forty."

The door flew open. "_Mischa_! Stop!"

Both women dropped their weapons. C spoke up first. "I appear to be missing something. Who is _she_?"

_So what's the guess? It's a fairly obvious one - how does L know Mischa and what is their relationship?_

_C._


	25. Devil Take The Hindmost

Slo and Damnation were soon aware of the weapons the newest arrivals possessed, and brainstormed quickly. If they made to disarm them, they would not be able to take out eight at once. The safest option was to get everyone out of the building as quickly as possible. Damnation wandered nonchalantly into the kitchen and 'accidentally' held a handkerchief to the flames of one of the stoves. He elbowed a fire alarm hard to break the glass, and then grinned as the alarm wailed loudly.

The assassins' heads snapped up in shock, hardly believing this was the time when there would be a fire. A man running past saw the guns they held and yelled that they had weapons, causing a domino effect of screaming and running. Nancy was still up on the stage with the other dancers. She ushered them towards the fire exits and slid her hands towards her legs, where she had hidden her own weapon specialty.

She saw a thickset man approach her and spun the knives in her hands. She was no ordinary showgirl. He stopped in his tracks and she smirked.

"You're fucking kidding me," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry," she said mockingly. She held the knives still, glaring. "Dollar for a fuck."

Damnation, who had just entered the casino from the kitchen, almost got trampled by a crowd when he stopped to hear her voice again. Her French accent was no more; in its place was the sound of a Californian girl. Of course… she'd lived in California for a long time after meeting Beyond, M, Rebel, Sky and Zero. It made sense she'd get the accent – but had she been putting on her old accent-?

She kicked the man in the head and leapt off the stage past him when he fell. She ran to join Rebel, who had withdrawn a gun from somewhere in the expanse of glitter and silk she was wearing.

C was no longer seated; she was rising from her chair and glowering at Kanaan in undiluted disgust. She made to move and felt a hand clasp her face. At first she struggled against her captor, gritting her teeth, then did not move, knowing her resistance was useless.

"Let's not make a scene, Miss MacDermid," her captor hissed. "You're coming with me."

"I-I'm s-sorry!" Kanaan gabbled. "S-she m-made me-!"

"Oh, shut up, Kanaan," the woman snapped. "Mechanic, bring that one in as well."

"_What_?" Kanaan shrieked. "_No_!"

Stony-faced, C was led out of the building by this auburn-haired woman, along with Kanaan and who had been named 'the Mechanic'. She walked calmly into the hotel room that they had clearly hired specifically for this occasion. She sat down on the end of the bed and waited till the Mechanic had left with Kanaan. She was alone in a room with this woman.

"So you are the Ana MacDermid that scumbag Kanaan was telling me about," she murmured. "I would say it was a pleasure to meet you, but under the circumstances…"

"Who are you?"

"I will be conducting this interview, Miss MacDermid," she warned in a low, dangerous voice. "You are in contact with somebody particularly important to me, my associates and my clients. By the look in your eyes, you know precisely who I am talking about. So…" She sat down on a chest of drawers and held up her gun. "Do I have to ask questions or will you be cooperating by talking first?"

**XXX**

Slo, Rebel, Nancy and Damnation, having exited the casino and gotten away from the goons who had disappeared with Kanaan and C, climbed into the back of a van outside Caesar's Palace. L looked back at them from the steering wheel and his eyes narrowed. His hands curled into fists when he spoke.

"Tell me, somebody, please," he growled, "_exactly _what happened in there."

"There were eight people there who knew about the meeting between C and the mole," Damnation chipped in. "I don't know for certain how they found out about it, but it looked like Kanaan had snitched on us."

"Sorry, but eight people against four… we couldn't have stopped them without potential losses," Slo added. He rubbed his eyes. He felt like a murderer; if C died tonight, there would be more than one murder committed. "We don't know who they are, so it's harder to say where they'll be, but I have a pretty nasty feeling we've seen them somewhere before."

"Los Angeles," Rebel piped up. "There were eight of them, right? Well, I know who they are. Here." She took a piece of paper out of Slo's pocket – a map of Las Vegas – and held a hand out for a pen. On the back of the map, she wrote down the numbers one to nine. "Number one is Oliver Thompson, also known as the Chairman." She scribbled his name and alias next to the number one she had written.

"Someone mentioned a repairman or something," Damnation said.

"Five, the Mechanic," Rebel agreed. "Harry Brooks."

"And the others?" Slo asked.

"Two is the Bodyguard, Isaac Paulson. Three you might have seen. He was the biggest guy, the Butcher," she explained.

"He went down without any of us touching him," Nancy realized. She was back to being French.

"Yeah," Rebel looked embarrassed. "Alonso Bellini is a narcoleptic."

"Four is the Nurse, Beth Middleton," Rebel continued. "Six is the Professor, Aaron Whitley. Seven is the Actor, Jake Wyatt, but he wasn't there. Eight is the Undertaker, Cara Swinton." She swallowed. "Nine is the Reaper."

"What was the Reaper's name?" Slo checked.

"Mischa Callahan," Rebel mumbled.

L, who had been looking at Rebel whilst she listed the names, suddenly dropped his eyes to the paper. He looked sort of sick. K, who had previously been sitting quietly at the back of the van, leant forward and frowned at her uncle.

"Do you have something you want to say, L?" she asked loudly.

"Why would you think that?" He looked at her.

"Well, you look extraordinarily uncomfortable," she pointed out. "You were fine until the name Mischa Callahan was brought up."

All eyes were now on L.

"Can we please focus on tracking the Nine instead of being distracted with-?" L barked.

"L," Rebel whispered, "I never called them the Nine. How did you know that was their name?"

"What?" he choked out.

"The Nine are a group of assassins, guns-for-hire," she pressed. "I never said that they were called the Nine. I merely told you there were nine of them. So how do you know who they are?"

**XXX**

C shook her head. "I'm afraid I am not under any obligation to cooperate with you, seeing as you have just taken me hostage. That does not warm me to you. My apologies."

The woman's eyes widened for a second. "You're British? Oh, well, I guess that makes sense. Your accent was a state I couldn't quite place. Did you know, the last time I met your boss, I was in Cambridge in England?"

"_Cambridge_?" She sounded like she was choking on the word.

"You didn't know?" She chuckled. "I suppose you wouldn't… I mean, you look rather young to know… and Ryuzaki, as we both are aware, is a particularly private man. I think he wouldn't want word to get out about what happened. After all, it likes to act like he deals with cases in an emotionless, detached manner…"

"What are you talking about?" C growled. "Who are you _really_?"

"My name is Mischa Callahan," she admitted coolly. "You won't have heard of me before. I keep a low profile. You're only Ryuzaki's PA, I guess. It's not as if you have a high enough position to put me in jail." She crossed her legs and tilted her head so sharply C heard a crack. "Once I was almost just like you, just as important. I was, like so many others, and like you will be, cast aside by Mr. Ryuzaki. We're all pawns in a giant game. As for my claim to fame, I was in charge of a particular series of murders taking place at King's College. I murdered several people and he was investigating me."

"So you're a common criminal," C said coldly. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"I wouldn't be quite so arrogant when I'm holding a gun," Mischa smirked. "Just a piece of advice."

"You haven't killed me yet, Miss Callahan. There must be a reason for that," she replied. "So I think I'll take my chances."

Mischa laughed and flicked the safety off of the gun. "They're amazing little devices, aren't they? One squeeze of the trigger and they can end lives. Technology is incredible, isn't it? As is human nature. For you see, humans are always searching for greater ways to kill each other. Nuclear weaponry came from nuclear energy, which was supposed to be clean, renewable energy. Hiroshima is considered one of the most important events in history – and why? Because it killed a fucking city."

C remained wordless, watching who she was diagnosing a sociopath in her mind.

"I'm not going to kill you, Miss MacDermid," Mischa agreed. "Not yet, anyway. I brought you here because if Ryuzaki searches for you, he'll track your cell phone, which I know you have on you. It would be foolish of you to not have it during such a meeting with Mr. Kanaan." She smiled. "Give me your phone."

C looked at Mischa uncertainly, then reached into her jacket pocket. From it she withdrew a gun of her own. She flicked the safety off with her thumb. Mischa licked her teeth.

"I should have known," she murmured. "But you didn't look like the type to carry a weapon. A Colt 45.? That's a toy."

"A toy that can easily kill you at blank point range," C reminded her.

"This is interesting," Mischa said. "Do you have it in you to shoot someone, Miss MacDermid? Someone so dear to your employer Mr. Ryuzaki?"

"Somehow, I don't think a criminal such as yourself means a huge amount to him," C shrugged, "no matter how highly you may rate your killings, Miss Callahan."

"He wasn't saying that back then," she sneered. "No, when he spoke to me back then it was usually to whisper my name and… well, honey, I'm sure you can guess." She watched C's face change as this sunk in. "Oh, look at that. What you're imagining, sweetie, it happened. You think I'm lying? Does he still have that tiny birthmark on the back of his neck-?"

"I don't doubt your relationship." It was taking all of C's self-control not to sound too strangled.

"So you work with Ryuzaki?" she cackled. "You don't seem like... colleagues."

"And you don't seem any younger than forty."

The door flew open. "_Mischa_! Stop!"

Both women dropped their weapons. C spoke up first. "I appear to be missing something. Who is _she_?"

"You've resorted to screwing your employees now?" Mischa folded her arms. "So disappointing. Does she know that you're L?"

"_She_ is not his employee, and yes, _she_ is well aware of the fact he's L," C snapped.

"C, come with me," L instructed.

"_C_?" Mischa's eyes widened. "So the rumors are true? No wonder you thought I was a 'common criminal'. Though you know, L didn't think I was quite so much of a common criminal. Maybe what I did to him _should _be illegal, but-"

"C, let's _go_." He sounded desperate to not have C listen to any more of Mischa's cutting remarks. He held out his hand to her, which she did not take. "What are you doing?"

"Why do all your exes try to kill us?" she sighed.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, exhaling in exasperation. "I have no idea."

"What about Kanaan?" C asked Mischa. "Will you let him go?"

"If you want him."

"He is needed for a job. Let him go," L told her. "Let him go and we'll ignore you." Once C had gone down to the van, L lingered in the doorway. "Do not remain living in hope that I will leave C on her own, Mischa. What's done is done. Your life and mine shall not cross paths again."

"I would be careful if I were you," she muttered. "It sounds like she loves you."

"Good," he said, causing her to take a step back in awe. "I would hope that my wife loved me." He moved forward to pat Mischa on the shoulder. "Let it go, Mischa."

"Fuck you, L," she snarled. "Just… just get out. I don't want to hear it."

He nodded, turned away and made to exit when he stopped one last time.

"Oh, by any chance, are you related to one Ruby Pandora Callahan?" he asked.

"How did you know that?" she asked, amazed.

"I see," he said, nodding. "I just thought she looked a bit like you. Have a nice life, Mischa."

When he'd gone, she sat down on the end of the bed of the hotel room and took the gun in one hand. She stared at it for a second, then put the safety back on and wandered out of the hotel room. Someone was going to die, and it was not going to be her.

* * *

_There you go. The song was from the 'Phantom' sequel, 'Love Never Dies'. It's just really catchy. Oh, and cookies to Apathetical, who was the 80th reviewer!_

**Preview**

"So what was Christmas like for you at Wammy's when you were there?" Slo asked casually.

"Oh, you know," Ludo shrugged. "Pretty uneventful. It was kinda relaxing."

_CHRISTMAS BONUS CHAPTER involving LUDO, FLINT, BESS, IRINA, L, WATARI, JENNA, MATT, MELLO and NEAR is coming up next - it's just a sidestory; it has no real relevance to the actual plot. Merry Christmas to all of you guys!_

_C._


	26. All I Want For Christmas Is You

_Just a quick mention in case: this has no purpose for the plot. It's basically a bonus chapter especially for Christmas, with a side-story of first generation Wammy's kids. Enjoy!_

* * *

"What's up with you?" laughed K, punching her friend on the shoulder.

Slo was typing frantically into his laptop as he sat on the couch, running his fingers through his hair occasionally whilst Damnation threaded glittering tinsel around the Christmas tree standing in the corner of the main leisure room, also known as the common room. Nancy kept throwing baubles at him, trying to knock him off the chair he was standing on.

"I'm trying to find some stuff to buy you guys off Amazon for Christmas," he admitted. "Oi! Don't try and look! That's cheating! Don't you like surprises?"

"I kind of figured out where Roger hides our Christmas presents when I was about four," she grinned. "I don't think I get surprised easily anymore."

"I'll surprise you this Christmas, then," Sky called out from about fifteen feet away. He was hooking fairy lights around the normal wall-lamps. "Dummy, we've got about three more rooms to decorate and then that'll be all of Wammy's completely Christmas-ified."

"This looks absolutely gorgeous, guys," Rebel said. "Good job."

"Nearly done," Sky informed her. "Thank God. Do you know how heavy those fucking trees are?"

K chuckled and stopped bullying Slo. "I've been organized this year. All I need to do now is wrap everything. Honestly, I swear my wardrobe has become a stationary closet with the amount of Sellotape, scissors and wrapping paper stuffed in there."

Sky jumped down from the chair he'd been standing on. "Do I get a present from you, K?"

She shook her head, laughing. "Of course you don't."

"Scrooge," he muttered.

"You absolute banana," she snickered. "Sure I got you something. I get everyone something. I might as well."

Ludo entered the room, a huge grin already spread across his face. "Wow. This place is _awesome_! I forgot how great Wammy's looks in the holidays. Whether it's Christmas, Halloween or Easter, they always make a massive thing of it."

"So what was Christmas like for you at Wammy's when you were there?" Slo asked casually.

"Oh, you know," Ludo shrugged. "Pretty uneventful. It was kinda relaxing." He frowned for a moment in thought. "I mean, of course we enjoyed it. It's just not a lot happened, you know. We were all at peace at Christmas. Even L came back from cases to spend Christmas here."

**XXX**

**December 25, 2002**

"Oh my freakin' _God_!" yelled Bess in her highest-pitched squeal. "It's freakin' _Christmas_!"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," groaned Irina, shoving the pink-haired girl away from her bunk. "I think the whole building heard you."

"Bah, humbug, Irina," Bess pouted. "Bah, _humbug_."

"Piss off, Bess, or I'll shave those pink curls right _off_-"

"_Ludo_!" Bess bellowed. When Ludo turned up in their room, he raised an eyebrow. "Irina is being grumpy on Christmas Day! She's not allowed to be grumpy!"

"Tell her to grow up," Irina spat. "She's seventeen, for goodness' sake…"

"Now, now, Irina, there's no need to be so miserable," Ludo chastised the girl. "I know just what you need – presents! Come on, come on, come on! I have a feeling something special's going to turn up this year!"

"You're just as childish as she is," Irina grumbled, rolling out of bed. "Fine, I'm coming."

The three, along with approximately twenty others, either skipped or trudged (depending on the level of coherence in the individual) towards the hall of the main building. They all sat around the Christmas tree in groups, going to the tree to search for the gifts with their nametags. Bess clapped her hands excitedly, causing several of the younger students to giggle. She planted herself beside a silvery-blonde Flint. A pair of protective goggles were strapped to his head as he removed a pair of rubber gloves caked in ash.

"Hey, Flint!" she squeaked. "How's the jet-pack going?"

"I don't have enough energy without wiping out the national grid," he shrugged, "so I thought I'd take a break for Christmas."

"Aw, that's too bad, man," she sighed. She immediately brightened up again. "Have you opened any of your presents yet, Flint? Have you?"

"I only just sat down, Bess," he pointed out shrewdly.

"I've opened two and I only just walked in," she countered eagerly. She waved at Ludo and Irina with both hands. "Dudes! Over here! Come on! Hurry up!"

"I'm going to sit with Jenna," Irina said. "You guys are just… insane."

"Hell yeah!" Ludo shouted.

"Woo!" Bess added, punching the air.

Suddenly, an old man opened the door and Bess let out an impossibly enthusiastic shriek. "_Wammy_!" She almost tackled the man to the ground with her hug. He steadied himself, chuckling at the girl's happiness. "We haven't seen you for ages! Merry Christmas, man!"

"Merry Christmas to you too," he smiled. "How are you, Bess? You appear just as gleeful as ever."

"Dude, why wouldn't I be? It's _Christmas_!" she enthused.

"I see you're into the festive spirit, young Bess," he said. "Would you mind keeping an eye on some new students for me?"

"Awesome! Who are they?" she asked.

"In you come, boys," he called into the corridor. Through the door entered two boys fighting playfully, a blonde and redhead. Bess beamed at the two of them. She noticed the youngest of the Wammy's students, seated by himself in the common room, tilt his head in what could have been interest. She would start by introducing the boys, both around twelve or thirteen, to the eleven-year-old genius. He was closer to their age than she.

"This is Bess," Wammy explained to the pair. "She is our number four."

The blonde one shuffled his feet, folding his arms across his chest. It was difficult to tell whether his reaction was nerves or arrogance. However, the redhead grinned at the pink-haired girl and shook her head, introducing himself as Matt and the other as Mello. It seemed they had been in the same orphanage before they had been brought to Wammy's.

"I'd go talk to that kid first," Bess pointed to the albino boy. "He's Near; he's probably around your age."

"I've got a surprise for you lot too," laughed Wammy.

A tall, pale girl with black hair in a pixie cut appeared in the doorway. Bess let out a gasp and tackled her in a hug, winding the sixteen-year-old fleetingly. "_Rin_!" she squealed. "Oh my God! I haven't seen you in months!"

"Damn it, Bess," she choked out, amused. "You almost killed me!"

"Aw, whatever," she giggled. "You gotta come say hi!"

Rin glanced once back up at Wammy. "Do you mind if she steals me for a bit?"

"Of course not," he chortled. "It's not as if she's a serial killer."

"Serial killers won't ever get to me," she said defiantly. "I'll make sure of that."

"Reassuring." Bess rolled her eyes. "Come on, Flint and Ludo are gonna wanna see you!"

"Sounds like I haven't a choice," Rin said mock-seriously. "If it is that urgent, we must depart immediately!"

Irina snorted derisively at the sight of the two new boys talking with Near, one of the most antisocial people ever to grace Wammy's House. She shook her head when the red-haired boy, Matt, took out a Gameboy and began to play on what sounded like Pokémon Gold. She rose from her seat next to Jenna, who was unwrapping a book on exercises before gymnastics. Irina went to sit next to Matt.

"You ever tried computers?" she sneered.

"Whoa, your accent's _weird_," he said, staring at her. "Where are you from?"

"Stockholm," she answered. Her tone was laced with poison. "Got a problem with that?"

"Nah," he shrugged. "So what did you want?"

"I was asking whether you'd ever tried computers," she muttered. "My mistake."

"Computers?" he grinned. "Are you kidding? I can hack 'em!"

"A child like you? You've got to be joking," she snickered. "There's no way you can hack, not properly anyway. You're probably into emails and that sort of thing. I'm talking important databases. _Government _databases."

"Easy," he admitted. "I did it last week."

She cackled once. "You got guts, kid, but you're not _that _good."

"Try me," he said calmly.

"All right, then," she nodded. "Come with me."

"Hey! Matt!" snapped the blonde. "Where are you going?"

"Hacking contest," he said shortly. "I'll be back in a little while, Mels."

It was twenty-five minutes later when everyone in the common room suddenly heard Irina's indignant scream of, _"No fucking way did he just BEAT ME!"_

"D'aw," Bess sighed. "Merry Christmas, guys."

**XXX**

"Yeah…" Ludo murmured. "Pretty uneventful in the long run…"

Slo frowned, going back to his laptop. He bit his lip, then typed in 'camera'. He ordered a Nikon for K, a English-French dictionary for Damnation, a silver butterfly necklace for Rebel (he remembered her once saying she had never seen a butterfly in real life), an amplifier for Sky (the one who played electric guitar) and a pair of pink stilettos for Nancy.

"Ludo," Slo mumbled, "did you miss Wammy's when you left?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "It's home, isn't it? And all these fucked-up numbskulls are my family."

"I'm finished with my Christmas shopping now," Slo breathed. "Do you reckon Sky and Dummy will kill me if I _finally _help out with the decorations?"

"Damnation looked like his arms were going to drop off any second," Ludo said.

"I'll take that as a no," Slo replied, getting up off of the couch to go join them.

**XXX**

"I fucking _hate _Christmas songs," Sky muttered. "They're so unbelievably annoying!"

"They're upbeat," Damnation sighed. He began to laugh. "Of course you wouldn't get that, Mr. Antidepressants. You have to be on fifty pills to not slit your wrists every ten minutes."

"I wonder how much damage this staple-gun could do?" Sky pondered out loud. "What if I shot it right at your eye…?"

"Please put your gun away," K told him, finishing off a colorful paper chain. "This is meant to be a children's environment, after all-"

"You and your dirty mind," Slo said.

"Oh, so _now _you turn up?" Rebel scolded. "We're nearly finished."

"You'll be as prickly as those holly leaves if you hold grudges," Slo pointed out. "Do you need a hand with those, by the way?"

"Smooth-talker," she accused. "Can you just knock some more nails in to hold these bunches up?"

"Sure I can," he agreed. "I'm not just a pretty face."

C walked in, a huge smile on her face. "Oh, guys, this looks phenomenal. How long has this taken you?"

"Are we talking just this building, or every single building that's part of Wammy's?" asked Damnation.

"Jesus Christ," she said.

"It's for his birthday; he'd better like it," Rebel muttered.

"Well, if you look outside, I think you'll see that everything's been made just the tiniest bit more festive," she said. "Go on, all of you. Look."

And, true to her word, white had begun to sprinkle prettily over the grounds. They could see fairy lights put up outside, threaded through the trees, which only added to the effect. The ground was fairly dry, and definitely cold enough for the snow to settle. Damnation suddenly let out an awed gasp and pointed out of the window toward the sky.

"Holy shit! Look!" he shouted. "It's Santa!"

Out of instinct, all by the window leant forward to see what was there. Damnation immediately cracked up laughing. He wiped his eye after laughing so much.

"Oh my God…" he said between laughs. "I can't believe… I can't believe you actually _looked_… you bunch of absolute _pea-brains_…"

"You git," K muttered.

"Dummy, that was mean," Sky said, though he was smiling a bit at their own stupidity too.

"What was mean?" asked L.

"Never mind," Slo shrugged. "It's just Damnation being a bit of a twat, as per usual."

"Honestly, you're so immature," Rebel grumbled.

"You want immature?" Sky said. "Every year, Nancy runs around wherever we're staying and brings out a sprig of-"

"Merry Christmas!" Nancy squealed as she ran into the room.

"-Mistletoe."

"Pucker up or fucker off," she said brightly. "L and C, you first."

C face-palmed, laughing. She kissed L, then watched as she skipped over to Damnation and had him kiss her. Sky had retreated to his stepladder to get back to stapling Christmassy pictures to the wall. Slo kissed Rebel, then K, who knocked her forehead against his.

"Kissing you is _still _overrated," she reminded him.

"Still don't appreciate Botticelli, huh?" He shook his head. "You have no taste."

"Screw you." She stuck her tongue out at him and went to collect the remaining pictures to be put up.

"Hey, come on," Nancy snapped at Sky. "Get down from there; that's cheating!"

"Oh, for Christ's sake," he muttered. Whilst standing on the stepladder, he bent down and pecked Nancy on the lips. "Better?"

"No! Get down here, Scrooge!" she commanded.

"Nancy, seriously…" he sighed. "Let me just finish this."

"No, you'll run off." He appeared to be ignoring her now. She poked him in the side, trying to catch his attention. He reached down to pick up another picture just as she tugged so sharply on his jacket he lost his footing and fell off the stepladder – onto someone who had been trying to gather up the last of the decorations. He knocked all of the air out of her, barely managing to support himself with his elbows to stop himself slamming into her with full force.

She blinked up at him in surprise. "Ow," she whispered.

He now looked rather nervous. He jumped up and brushed himself off as hastily as he could. He was running his hands through his hair and glancing around sheepishly. Slo lifted K to her feet and tried not to look at how she was blushing crazily. She grimaced underneath a hand that covered her face.

Nancy giggled. She ran over to stand directly in front of Sky, forcing him to turn around. At the same time, Damnation, understanding where his girlfriend was coming from, pushed K in his direction. Nancy held mistletoe as high as she could and the two of them scowled, first at her, then at each other.

"You guys worry too much," she said. "Loosen up."

K let out a strangled, "with _him_?" at the same time that he emitted a horrified, "with _her_?"

"Yes. Precisely."

They glared at her.

"You know, I'm not going anywhere until you two honor this well-known Christmas tradition. It's just a kiss, unless…" She tilted her head to one side. "It's _not_ just a kiss, not to you two…?"

"Fuck off," Sky laughed.

"Good luck with that," K added, amused. Both shook their heads, then easily walked past Nancy and out of the room. They lingered in the corridor, bursting out laughing. They had to lean up against the wall to stop themselves doubling over.

"Ridiculous…" K said, wiping her eyes from laughing too much. "As if we would kiss of our own free will-"

She was stopped by Sky crashing his lips against hers and forcing her mouth open so he could kiss her properly for about ten seconds. When he drew back, his eyes glittered with amusement. She pressed her hand to her lips, astonished. He straightened his jacket, grinning.

"I told you I'd surprise you for Christmas," he said triumphantly. With that, he easily set off down the corridor towards the door that would take him out into the snow.

Slo stuck his head out of the door, taking in her frazzled form. "What happened to you?"

She sank down against the wall, her mouth still hot.

"I think," she mumbled, "Sky just won a game of tonsil tennis."

* * *

_Next chapter it's back to the harder stuff. I tried to make this as much unlike a conventional Christmas oneshot as I could. I probably failed. Listening to Christmas songs will do that to you._

_Again, Merry Christmas, people!_

**Preview**

"Oh, fuck, I feel sorry for my mother," C groaned. "If this is bad..."

"Why?" Slo asked.

"Well, if it's this bad with one... Mum carrying me and my twin sister must have been absolute hell."


	27. Everything I Ever

Romeo hadn't even meant to see anything. He was just passing by the office while Roger was out dealing with a camera Zero had seen. Suddenly, he found himself becoming curious about what he had interrupted K with before she'd left for California. He glanced around, checking nobody was in the corridor and would see what he was doing, and then he entered the office.

If the door hadn't been slightly ajar, then maybe he wouldn't have given it so much thought. He would have disregarded it as just another room he was passing by on his journey to his own bedroom – or rather, the dormitory he had agreed to share with the currently absent Slo. There were no complaints previously about their sharing a room, except from Leo, who had tried to share a room with Romeo. As politely as he could, the sentiment that the twin had gotten across was 'hell to the no'.

He knelt down beside the filing cabinet and typed in the combination he'd found out from Zero, who had turned out to be one sneaky little bastard. He could hear a bunch of people running in the corridor. Silently, he slid open one of the drawers to the cabinet slowly so as not to be heard so easily. The first file that caught his eye was his late brother's.

It contained a full background, a diagram of his family tree (including deceased relatives), his exam results, birth certificate, death certificate and post mortem report. Romeo already knew most of this, and seeing a photo of his brother still hurt. In this photo, he was scowling at the camera in his favorite black leather jacket. Messy brown hair the same tone as Romeo's and eyes just like Romeo's made up his handsome face.

It was the picture that had been taken of him when they'd been transferred to the orphanage. William Dorian Hathaway looked out of the picture into the face of his twin brother, Erik, who could only imagine how he would have looked two years on from the taking of the photo. Romeo was seventeen now; as children, they had never imagined that one of them would be dead by fifteen.

Cause of death: cardiac arrest. His death was due, however, to suspicious events, as the youth was in perfect health and had an active role in the investigation with mass murderer the Fifth Kira. They could only conclude he had been murdered by the Fifth Kira in some form of revenge, or an experiment.

Romeo finally decided he couldn't deal with looking at his brother for too long, and so slotted his permanent record back into place and slid the filing cabinet shut. He began to push himself up to his feet when the tips of his fingers touched something that had been hidden underneath the cabinet itself. Frowning, he reached for it and took it out of its cubby-hole.

On the front of the file, a black Old English 'K' was printed. Why was that not in its proper place, he wondered? Cautiously, he opened it and saw a picture of the fifteen-year-old K glaring out at him. He felt more than a little curious now. He flipped through the papers, seeing photos of who appeared to be her mother and father. They both looked incredibly young, maybe only a few years older than Romeo was now.

There was a picture of L in there too. He must have only been around twenty or something in the photo, because he was sitting beside K's mother. He then turned over another page until he reached a report that surely shouldn't have been in his friend's record. Except… well, it was there. And so were so many other things that shouldn't have been in her record.

Why were the Kira reports all in K's file? Again, he entered the filing cabinet combination, searching for the 'K's. He took out a file that had to be hers and looked at both. One had her background, grades, official documents and the Kira paperwork, including the list of the dead. The other was much thinner, with only her background, official documents and grades. It was clear only one of them was in use.

Another file had been created for K. Why?

He turned when he heard a familiar voice in the doorway behind him. "I'm sorry you had to find out."

Romeo stared at her. "Eve?"

**XXX**

"You know, this is just _great_," C laughed without humor. "I don't know when you were planning to tell me that you had a murderous ex-girlfriend that now hates your guts, but you left it a little late, don't you think?" She sat down on their bed and placed an elbow on her knees, her chin in her hand. "And here you are getting all self-righteous with me about Tony-"

"You're a bit of a hypocrite yourself not telling me about him," L snapped.

"At least I'm honest when something has actually _happened_," she shot back. "If something had happened between me and Tony, which it never would have done, then I would have told you; you can be sure of that."

"Apparently, I can't be sure of anything with you at the moment!" he growled.

"Don't turn this back on me!" she barked. "We're talking about _you _and your failure to explain that there was a potential danger in this Mischa woman!"

"This happened _years _ago, C!" he insisted. "I was twenty-one years old!"

"Well, assassin let out of jail that might just come after you? It should be rather high on your list of priorities!" she hissed.

"Clearly, we don't know as much about each other as we thought we did!" he responded sharply.

"Clearly!" she shouted. Sighing, she sank back into a defensive position. L didn't want to hear what she whispered next, but it was unavoidable. "Maybe I should have stayed in Reading."

"Maybe you should have done," he muttered.

The hurt look in her eyes warred with the rage she was trying to beat down. They should have known that at some point their personalities, quick to clash previously, would conflict once again. C was beginning to see why leaving two years ago had seemed such an appealing prospect. With two such complex people, there were inevitably going to be secrets. That didn't give him a freebie, though.

She stood up and didn't look at him. "I think… we both need time to reassess where this is going. We're meant to trust each other and right now… I don't know if I have it in me. I'm sorry, L. I'm not strong enough for this."

For L, the worst part of it was that she didn't cry when she walked out. It might have been easier to judge how she was feeling if she'd shed even one tear, and then he could have thought about how to proceed. He had never imagined that not talking about Mischa would lead to this sort of situation. He had never wanted to talk about her because at the time, he _had _felt something for her, and then told himself he would not feel again after he discovered the truth about her.

The truth of _this _was that Mischa Callahan had been his first love, and C was not a replacement for her. She was a different kind of love, a warmer kind, the kind that lasted. Or at least, that was what he was convincing himself of. He was still a little shaken after seeing Mischa. The feelings of loving someone never went away. They faded until there was only a tiny spark left, and even then, the spark did not vanish. He knew he still liked Mischa. It was just something else overwhelming it that made it seemed insignificant.

Have you ever had a crush on someone, and then met the crush years later, with something still there? It was like that. He now only needed C to cool off. He was regretting not telling her the truth. He decided to go through the case files. Work was how he got rid of his stress, and yet a lot of the time it was the cause of the stress. On the side, there was a Rubik's cube. He picked it up and muddled it.

Hm. He'd leave the work, then.

**XXX**

"Oh, God, you look awful," Slo mumbled. "Come on in. K's in here, though, so if you want to talk-"

"About pregnancy?" K suggested. He looked startled. "I figured it out already, dipshit. I'm not blind, and I'm certainly not stupid. I know C's knocked up." She laughed. "No need to look like I'm the mother who caught you with your boyfriend or something. I know things like this happen."

"That's more than your uncle does," C muttered. "I'm eight weeks or so and he's completely oblivious."

"Even when you're throwing up?" K raised an eyebrow.

"Even when hormones are kicking in," she added.

"Jesus Christ," K said. "That is quite something. Okay, it's official. L was _made_, not born."

"Excuse me for a moment," C said quietly, entering the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

"You doing okay in there?" Slo called.

K gave him a disbelieving look. "You've got to be kidding me. 'You doing okay'… fucking hell. I thought you were the one who _understood _females."

"Well, I'm sorry, I've never had to deal with a pregnancy before," he said sarcastically. "What do you think I am, a bloody miracle worker? Fortunately, I have never let Slo Junior get out of control."

"Uh-huh," she said.

Finally, the noise from inside the bathroom ceased, alerting the two as to the fact they were permitted to enter. Slo went to sit next to C, whilst K perched herself on the edge of the bath. He patted her back awkwardly, encouraged by his friend. Eventually, C was able to speak.

"Oh, fuck, I feel sorry for my mother," C groaned. "If this is bad..."

"Why?" Slo asked.

"Well, if it's this bad with one... Mum carrying me and my twin sister must have been absolute hell."

"You're a twin?" K said curiously. "What's she like?"

"She's a pediatric oncologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital," she sighed. "She's actually smarter than I am. She's about seventeen minutes younger, but she's taller, prettier, more practical…" She smiled weakly. "And she's not eight and a half weeks pregnant, as far as I know."

"Married?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then, you never know," K shrugged. "My mum had me when she was heaps younger than you, and she _wasn't _married. Hey, Slo, where are you going?"

"I'm going to make sure L isn't drowning himself in alcohol or something," he threw over his shoulder. "I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"

"I swear if we need to call an ambulance for him-"

"Relax. Someone always needs a doctor with our lot."

K shook her head, smiling. She turned back to C. "Tell me more about your sister."

"Mum never expected us, though she should have done," C chuckled. "Twins run through the female line, and the gene's usually present in the oldest girl in a generation. Mum always said the only thing keeping my dad upright when he found out was his jaw on the floor…"

K tried not to let the shock show on her face. The oldest girl in a generation.

"Do you have any older sisters?" she asked quickly.

"No. Big brother. Why?"

"No reason." Oh, holy fucking crap.

**XXX**

Slo was in the corridor when he saw Nancy and Damnation together. He folded his arms and waited for them to spot that he'd seen them. He arched one eyebrow teasingly. Nancy immediately attempted to drag her fingers through her blonde curls, as if that would tidy the mess. Damnation wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Oh, no, carry on," Slo said smoothly. "Sorry for interrupting."

"Uh… maybe we'd better go grab some dinner," Damnation mumbled.

"Really? I thought you were hungry, you know, by the way you were eating each other," he remarked wryly. "There's plenty of space in a room, guys. Just evict it first. You never know, you could ask Sky if you could borrow his. It saves moving others out."

"I was going to ask…" Damnation said, going bright red. "What if others wanted to pair up…?"

"Yeah, like K and Sky, the deadly duo?" Slo snickered. "It's not happening, Dummy."

"We don't mean K and Sky!" Nancy blurted out. "We were wondering if you and… you and Rebel…"

"I have a girlfriend, Nancy."

Damnation cringed, but Nancy was not abashed in the least.

"The offer's on the table, Slo. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, anyway."

* * *

_Uh-oh. Trouble, Slo... trouble. Oh, and as for a question I received in reviews, I did get a chance to see 'Burlesque' and I really enjoyed it. My mum even got me the soundtrack for Christmas, which was a bonus, because Christina Aguilera and Cher both have amazing voices. I had an awesome Christmas; I hope you guys did too. I wish you all a happy New Year - have a great 2011, folks!_

**Preview**

Checkmate grinned at Romeo. "They'll be coming home anytime soon! Isn't that great?"

"Yeah," he responded coldly. "Just fan-fucking-tastic."


	28. Immanence

Flo had noticed a visible change in her boyfriend since yesterday. It was unnerving to see the sweet, gentle young man turn cold and distant. Every time she tried to talk to him, it was as if he was purposefully cutting himself off from everyone around him. One time, she had attempted to make conversation and he had all but shouted at her. This scared her a little.

She had been sitting outside his room, close to crying, when Athena saw her. At first, she had frowned in puzzlement at the scene, then she became more than a little furious at the girl's explanation. She drew herself up to her full height and cracked her knuckles menacingly. She couldn't believe that Romeo would be such a complete prick.

She looked down at Flo. "Go to your room and clean yourself up, Florence," she instructed.

"What are you going to-?"

"_Now_," she said firmly.

Flo scrambled to her feet and gave Athena one last worried glance before walking swiftly to her bedroom a couple of floors above Romeo's. Athena pressed her ear to his door for a moment. She couldn't hear much say for the low strumming of guitar strings. She chose then to swing open the door without knocking and slam it behind her.

"What the _hell _is wrong with you?" she demanded. "Do you have any idea how your behavior is affecting Flo? You're acting like an absolute – what is that?"

Romeo lifted the file with one hand, then dropped it nonchalantly on the floor. He nodded to it. She scowled as she picked up the file and saw the letter on the front. She began to flick through it, intrigued by what could possibly make such a level-headed person behave in this brusque manner.

"What the hell am I supposed to be looking for?" she snapped. "Look, I don't have time for this-"

She made to turn the page when she saw the title, the _name_, 'Kira V' printed in bold black letters at the top of the sheet. Her eyes flickered to Romeo, then back to the words. She shook her head determinedly and put the file to one side, on the absent Slo's desk. She wasn't going to tell him this, but she was beginning to feel a little dizzy.

"So you're saying… what? K is Kira?" she growled.

He folded his arms. "No," he replied. "I'm saying K _was_ Kira. The Fifth Kira. And I'm saying she killed my brother."

Athena felt like she'd been punched in the gut, temporarily knocking all of the air out of her. "Romeo," she breathed, "that's a big accusation."

"What else makes sense?" he snarled. "She was on the pier the night Will – Hamlet – died, and she had been spending a lot of time with him. She had plenty of chances to poison C. She had great insight into the Kira investigation when it was running its course. One day, they magically catch Kira? We're seriously supposed to believe that Kira was found that easily, and was caught in police crossfire during her arrest? _Come _on, Athena! K lost six months of her memories after 'falling down the stairs'!"

"Slo was able to verify that, Romeo," she said in a low voice. "Are you calling him a liar too?"

"Why not?" he muttered. "Number one and two in on the cover-up. Nobody would question them, ever. Look…" He grabbed the file and turned to the first Kira-related page. "Look, Athena. The Fifth Kira killings began on the fifth of September three years ago, right? They finished…" He turned to the last Kira-related page in the file. "…On the twenty-first of February two years ago, exactly one week after Will was killed and the same day that K allegedly fell down the stairs and suffered from blunt force trauma to the skull, causing her to lose six months' worth of memories. The only witness we have to K falling is Slo. Everyone noticed how protective he became of her after the accident-"

"Wouldn't you be protective too, if one of the most coordinated people you know fell down the stairs and gave themselves amnesia?" Athena pointed out. "Romeo, I know you want somebody other than a nobody to blame for your brother's death, but the truth is that he was one of many. Kira killed thousands of people, thousands of people with families. I've listened to your theory. It's time to stop taking out your grief on other people. You should see Flo-"

"Six months," he cut her off.

"What?" she said.

"The Kira investigation," he answered, "lasted six months. Those were the six months that K has blacked out on. She can't recall anything from those six months at all. The weapon that Kira used… well, in here there's a list of rules."

"Romeo-"

"Don't say anything yet, Athena," he told her. He handed her the file. "Please… just read it. Read it, and then tell me I'm crazy."

Athena took the file, placed it next to Romeo and then sat on his other side, wrapping her arms around him. There was no doubt that she had something to be concerned about with him. Something had hit him hard, and any surplus stress had turned into an obsession. He was like a brother to her, and she couldn't bear to see him this way. He was acting more like Hamlet than he ever had when Hamlet was alive.

"You're crazy," she whispered. "Romeo, I'm so sorry. It's not your fault. I'd want answers too."

She was shoved away for that comment. "For God's sake, forget it, then," he said. "I was trying to be sincere. No need to go all maternal on me."

"Stop acting like such a brat!" she barked. "K's dead now, too! She committed suicide. Does that cheer you up?"

Romeo glared at the carpet, his own voice subdued. "You have no idea."

It was at this time that Checkmate hurried in, his eyes bright. When he saw the two students' expressions, his own grew confused. Hastily, he shook off the miscomprehension and clapped his hands together. Athena stood up and tucked the file under her arm, out of her friend's sight. Romeo noted that the file had been taken. She was going to consider it, he knew.

Checkmate grinned at Romeo. "They'll be coming home anytime soon! Isn't that great?"

"Yeah," he responded coldly. "Just fan-fucking-tastic."

"What's with the cool attitude?" Checkmate asked. "Athena? Athena, where are you-?"

"See you at dinner, Checkmate." Running her fingers through her dark hair and messing up her tight ponytail, she made her way out of the room and began her course towards her bedroom, the one she shared with Billie Jean and Io. Eventually, she reached her destination, placing the file on her bed and beginning to read it all the way through.

_Name: Keira Kaiko Yagami-Lawliet_

_Date of birth: 5 September 2005_

_Arrival at Wammy's House: 7 September 2005_

_Branch of Wammy's House: Winchester, England_

_Parents: Light Yagami (father, deceased), Rin Lawliet (mother, deceased)_

_Other known living relatives: L* (uncle), Sayu Matsuda (aunt), Touta Matsuda (uncle), Sachiko Yagami (grandmother) - __* = alias used for protection_

_Health: No physical problems. Mental health debatable._

**XXX**

He drummed his fingers on the tabletop. Behind his sunglasses, he was scoping for his next victim. They had to meet his criteria, and he was always particularly unsatisfied if he failed. Two people… it had to be two of them. Without two, the effect would not be anywhere near as poignant. He liked detail. The waitress brought him out another scalding cup of coffee, which he drank quickly.

Out in the blistering, heavy heat of Las Vegas, he could see a dark blonde woman hurry up the escalators outside towards the shopping mall. She didn't look like she was going shopping, or just meeting with friends for a fun day out. Interested, he leaned forward and shifted his sunglasses a little further down his nose so his eyes could be seen over the top. She walked past his table, eyes fixed ahead, and walked off in the direction of Caesar's Palace.

He rolled his eyes. How could she not notice that someone was watching her? Was it that people were that oblivious to their surroundings nowadays? That's when something sparked in the back of his mind. Only the day before, people had gone running out of Caesar's Palace due to a fire alarm. What was she doing heading in that direction? He left his finished cup of coffee and set off, following her.

He could always finish his task later, in a much quieter setting. Two people were indeed required for this to work, and he would not find them here.

**XXX**

C was asking the Caesar's Palace staff how investigations were going into the alleged 'fire' that had occurred the day before. How odd it seemed now to think that had only been less than twenty-four hours ago. The man, who had once been a poker dealer in the casino, told her that there had been no fire, and the culprit for setting the alarm off had not been apprehended, or even identified as of yet.

As she began to walk away, she felt someone's eyes on the back of her neck, as if two tiny flash burns were tearing down her spine. She put her hands in her jeans pockets, checking that a penknife was still in the left one. There was no price you could put on safety, and she had trained for that safety for nine years. Somebody was approaching her from behind now. She could feel their hot breath on the back of her neck.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder and she swiveled sharply, moving her back foot so that it became her front foot, planted firmly to the ground. She almost took a step away when she saw a familiar face smiling at her. She choked out the name.

"Tony?"

"Ana, is it?" he chuckled. "Listen, Ana-"

"Tony, I'm really busy," she said. "I'm sorry. I have to be on my way. If you call this number" – she handed him a fake business card – "and leave a message, I'm sure I'll get back to you."

"I wanted to know about my sister," he interjected. "Is she safe with you?"

C massaged her forehead with her index fingers for a few moments, then looked at him directly. His face seemed genuinely concerned, but his eyes were telling another story. She was usually good at picking up on ulterior motives, yet this time she remained clueless. Tony was one of those people that even an experienced psychologist found it difficult to read. She tried to pick up on any micro-expressions that might give his emotions away and frowned, unable to find any. Micro-expressions could last from one sixteenth to one fifth of a second. Why could she not see his?

Was Tony Callahan, who seemed only to be a kind, caring brother, a psychopath?

"Are you okay?" he asked, going to touch her shoulder.

She yanked it back.

"I'm fine," she answered. A smile flickered on her face for a fraction of a second, and then her expression became wary.

Tony laughed a bit. His laugh sent chills down her spine. "Come on now, Ana. You're acting strangely-"

"I'm _fine_," she insisted, taking a step away from him.

"Ana, do you need someone to talk to?" he murmured. He placed a firm hand on her upper arm. It was as if he was reminding her that they were in a public place, that she shouldn't make a scene. "You look… nervous."

"I need to be somewhere," she lied. "I told Ryuzaki I'd call him."

"Ryuzaki is the man I saw you with a few days ago?"

"Yes," she responded. "I _really _need to call him. I said I would. He's waiting for me to call."

Tony narrowed his eyes at her, then lowered his hand. "You should call him, then. I'll talk to you some other time." Once he had gone a few paces in the other direction, he glanced back over his shoulder. "You and I are going to meet again, Ana MacDermid."

"Bye," she mumbled, waiting until he'd gone. Only when she'd gotten halfway back to the hotel did she realize that she had never told Tony her supposed surname. She had only ever called herself Ana.

If she'd never told him her alias's surname… how did he know it?

**XXX**

Slo closed the door behind him, watching the auburn-haired girl put down her cell phone and give him a questioning look. He said nothing, only going to sit next to her. He picked up the cell phone himself and switched it off. He didn't want anybody calling when he was trying to talk to her about this. It was hard enough; the guilt was going to drive him insane.

"Rebel," he said, "Ruby. I wanted to talk to you about this thing Damnation was saying…"

* * *

_What do you guys think of Tony _now?_ Is he just as sweet and unsuspecting as you first thought? Aw, man, I love it. And it's weird to think that two years ago just before Christmas we ended the journey of Light and Rin. Now I think about it, it takes a long time and a lot of patience to put up with a story that's taken this long. So thank you, everyone, and have a great 2011. A special mention to Miss Bright, who was the 90th person to review! Holy crap, I never thought I'd get this far. Thank you!_

_Oh, and a quick few words: the name for this chapter is 'Immanence', off the Death Note OST, and that is the track used for the SECOND HALF of the chapter. The first half had 'Hello, Zepp' from the SAW movies._

**Preview**

Her glare should have physically hurt him. "You've got to be kidding me."

_Three guesses over who the 'she' is, three for who 'he' is, and three for what's he's 'got to be kidding' about. Happy reviewing, and happy New Year, people!_

_C._


	29. The Little Things

Athena sat next to the big stone that Roger had ordered to bring in. She had been kneeling there in the dirt for around thirty minutes. Or was it an hour? For all she knew, it could have been days. She sat there with the file on her lap, feeling the last droplets of spring rain and the first of summer sprinkle over her skin. She took a deep breath and lifted her head.

From the courts, she could hear some of the students playing tennis. A few girls were having fun with hockey. They were all blissfully oblivious of the knowledge that one of the people they had grown up respecting, near revering, was a liar and a murderer. Athena, Eleni Vandoulakis, placed a hand on the tombstone, knowing what sort of reaction she would receive if she told everyone the truth.

She was pretty close to crying. The friend that she thought she had known was not that at all, and now she was dead, taking her secret to her grave. She believed that she had drained herself of tears when she had first learned of K's death. This revelation reopened the wounds, letting them freshly bleed.

"I miss you, you know," she said to the grave. "It doesn't matter that you and I weren't very close in life. I'm sorry for how you died and how nobody ever knew…"

_Will Hathaway, died aged 15. Beloved brother and friend, you will always be with us. October 22 2005 – February 14 2021._

When she looked up again, Romeo was leaning against his brother's grave, arms folded. She slowly got to her feet. Without looking at him, she handed him the file back. That was confirmation enough for him. He could take that back and replace it where he found it. Athena's facial expression said it all.

"She doesn't seem quite so perfect now, does she?" he shrugged.

"I remember something Fall said…" mumbled Athena. "When she found out that K and Leo had kissed one another, and Slo stopped her clawing K's face off, she said something about K." She pulled her hair-tie out and let the locks drop loose on her shoulders. "'One day, you'll find out she isn't all sugar-sweet and friendly as you think she is. She's a liar.' Well…"

"You're saying _Fall _knew-?"

"Don't be stupid. Fall doesn't have the initiative to find things out for herself like that," Athena snapped. "She knew as much about… about K… as… as, well, any of us did. Looking back on it, none of us truly knew her."

His lips tightened into a firm line. "Perhaps we still don't." He glanced over at the main building. "See you around, Athena. Eleni."

"What are you-? Romeo? Romeo!" she shouted after him.

**XXX**

"I want you girls ready by seven o'clock tomorrow morning," C said. "Have a nice time, but _please _sleep. This is your last night in Vegas… until the next time you decide to come along. Get some rest, all of you. I'm going to talk to the boys now."

Nancy and Rebel glanced at each other wordlessly. Once C had gone, they both got a hold of K's shoulders and sat her down. She barely had time to let out a shocked squeal. She was completely silenced by the two girls' serious expressions. She put both hands up.

"Okay, I surrender," she said, puzzled. "What did I do? And whatever I did, it's Sky's fault."

"Funny you should blame him so fast-" Rebel murmured.

"-Because you're rooming with him tonight," Nancy finished.

Behind the perfectly serene eyes of L's first-in-line, mini-explosions were happening. She could have sworn any rational part of her brain was gradually going into meltdown. Anything they were saying to try and calm her down were sailing way over her head. Her hands flew up to cover the mouths of each of her friends, one either side of her. With that, she stood up and turned to face them.

"Let me get this straight," she said coolly. "You want me to share a room _with a rapist_ overnight."

"He wouldn't rape you!" Rebel spluttered from under K's hand.

"Yeah!" Nancy agreed, her voice slightly muffled. "He only rapes girls he _likes_ – ouch!" Rebel had just elbowed her sharply in the ribs. "Oh, come on!" She tore K's hand away. "He won't rape you! He won't even bloody _talk _to you! He'll just be a _bit _more of a dickweed-"

K arched an eyebrow. "You. Are. Insane."

"And you're being selfish," Rebel said coldly.

A smirk spread gradually across her face. For some reason, this new, curious expression made Nancy shiver. Casually, K leant back against a chest of drawers. She looked like she had just struck gold.

"So why _am _I supposedly rooming with the resident rapist?" she asked smoothly. "You two wouldn't be doing something you're not supposed to, would you? Hm?"

"What?" Nancy squeaked. "Of course n-"

"Yeah," Rebel said bluntly. "So what?"

"This wouldn't have anything to do with Damnation and Slo, would it?" The look on their faces told her that she'd got them cornered. She laughed and shook her head, looking down at her shoes. After a few seconds, she lifted her head again and smiled at them. "For all you guys act like such hardcore bitches, you're all warm and fuzzy inside really, aren't you?"

"I _will _rip your throat out," Rebel warned.

"That would upset _Slo_." Her voice was so sickly sweet that it even put Rebel on edge. The next thing they knew, the frost in her voice was gone, replaced with completely normal laughter. "You two are so funny. Honestly, you really think I would be _stupid _enough to sleep in the same room as Sky Saxon?"

"No one said you had to _sleep_," Rebel murmured.

"You seriously have a death wish." The dangerous edge was back.

"Please…" Nancy whined. "Just one night. We'll be back to normal by morning."

K rolled her eyes. She couldn't decide whether to run or endure. Since Nancy had been particularly tolerant of her unending number of injuries over the weeks they had been in America, she stuck to enduring. She closed her eyes when she spoke. "I don't think I would do this for anyone else, except maybe Athena or Damnation. Slo gets enough time without any help from me."

She looked at Rebel, then spoke with a much more somber tone. "I am not going to interfere with what you and Slo have or do. I'll say nothing and let you get on with it, because it's not my business, but only if you agree to deal with the consequences."

"Fine, yeah, I'll deal with the consequences," Rebel answered with no hesitation whatsoever. "Will you butt the fuck out now?"

Without words or a smile, K nodded once. She went to her suitcase, gathered the last of her things together – excepting the clothes she would wear that night and the morning after, her toothbrush and toothpaste – and zipped her case up. The other two watched their roommate of several weeks turn back to them and sit back on her suitcase.

"Which room am I sleeping in tonight, then?"

**XXX**

"_NO_!"

Damnation narrowly dodged a book that went soaring over his head. He threw his hands up in surrender. Fortunately for him, it appeared that Sky had run out of things to throw at him unless he picked up the plasma television and launched that at his head, which actually, considering his black mood right now, would not be out of character.

"Okay, okay!" Damnation shouted at him. "I get it! You don't wanna do it! But will you _quit _throwing shit at me?"

Sky glowered at him.

"Where's Slo?" he demanded.

"Don't kill him without letting him get his leg over!" Damnation said. "That's just evil!"

"He'll get his leg over. In fact, he'll get _both _legs over – when I rip them off and throw them at his own fucking torso!" Sky snapped. "I bet this was his fucking idea! I am _not _sharing a room with the White Bitch herself!"

"Uh, dude, if she finds out you called her the White Bitch, she'll chuck you out of the plane tomorrow without a parachute," the long-haired boy reminded him. "I really would not fuck with her right now. She'll probably be in a bad enough mood when she finds out she's rooming with you!"

"You see? This is _bad_," Sky said slowly, as if he were speaking to a child. "I'm going to go ahead and presume that for some reason unknown to me you actually want her alive?"

"Sky, if anyone dies in this room later tonight, it will probably be you," he shrugged. "I'm just saying."

"No, no, Dummy," Sky insisted. "It will not be me. It will be _you_."

"You seriously underestimate the scariness of a PMS-ing girl."

"And _you _seriously underestimate the 'scariness' of a rapist and murderer that does not like someone he will be spending eight hours with overnight. Alone."

"So you _will _do it?"

Oops. Sky had something to throw – he'd hidden a disposable camera in his pocket. It flew swiftly over Damnation's head and he managed to catch in one hand before it smashed through the window behind him. Sky glowered at him and turned on his heel, storming out. This wasn't going to be an easy one.

Damnation rolled his eyes. Honestly, couldn't they get over their animosity for each other this one time? They'd managed reasonably well over the past week… by that, he meant both were still living and breathing. After their apparent truce at the hospital, they had become the same as they had once been: taunting and sarcastic. They seemed to delight in each other's discomfort, to relish in the other's dark moods.

Well, it wasn't his problem. He patted his pockets in search of his iPod. It was pretty sure he'd put it in there. Oh, maybe there were in the pockets of his jacket. He grabbed it off the side with a sweeping movement, finding that something fell off the chest of drawers. He face-palmed briefly before picking up the fallen item.

It looked like it was a small tub of the antidepressants that Sky took to stop him from losing his mind further than he already had. He unscrewed the cap out of pure curiosity and stared. The tub was pretty much full. He was supposed to be taking one every day; the tub said there were about eighty capsules in the tub, and if he had been taking them every day since they had left for Los Angeles, that would mean there should be at least thirty-five of them gone.

So… what? He hadn't been taking the medication that would stop going crazy?

Was there something that was getting rid of the horrible feelings that constantly plagued him?

His brain beginning to hurt, Damnation screwed the cap back onto the tub, placed it where he'd found it on the chest of drawers and returned to searching for his iPod.

**XXX**

Sky couldn't believe what Damnation had suggested to him. It was as if they had all been trying to order him around for the time he hadn't been throwing things at the guy he'd previously roomed with. He finally found himself calm enough to return to his own room, the one he would not be sharing with anyone under any circumstances. If they were suicidal, that was their own fault. He didn't want any fucking part in it.

He pushed the door open after inserting his card key in the scanner, definitely looking forward to spending his last night in a hotel bed. Sighing, he closed the door behind him and slipped his shirt over his head. He went to throw it onto one of the beds nonchalantly when he heard a yelp. Immediately, he took a step backwards. K sat up in bed, pulling his shirt off her face.

Her glare should have physically hurt him. "You've got to be kidding me."

"_You_?"

"Can you not go five minutes without taking your shirt off?"

"What the fuck are you doing in here?" he demanded. He grabbed his shirt from where her feet should have been under the covers and shot her a look that could have made even the Ice Queen shiver.

"I'm trying to _sleep_," she snapped. "However, because a certain idiot is making a lot of noise, I can't."

"What are-?" He stopped. "The others put you up to this."

"Yep."

"You're doing what they asked you to do?" He sounded astonished.

"It's up to them how their love life folds out," she shrugged, clambering out of bed. "None of my business. If they want to get married and have dozens of little babies, then let them. I just don't want them to come crying to me if it doesn't work out."

"That's a harsh view to take."

"That's coming from a guy who raped and murdered six girls."

He turned away from her and dropped his shirt on the floor. "You didn't think about that when you said you'd room with me?"

"Nancy assured me you wouldn't make any sexual advances towards me because you _really _don't like me."

He smirked moved forward to touch her face. "I wouldn't be so certain of that first bit."

She yanked herself away from him and ducked past to go into the bathroom. "You get into whatever you wear when you sleep. I'll wait in the bathroom until you're done."

Once inside, she closed the door behind her and locked it, sinking to the floor. Her skin still crawled in the place his hand had come into contact with.

* * *

_Aw, they're coming to the end of their trip to America... however, that does mean they'll be going back to Wammy's to confront whatever's waiting for them!_

**Preview**

Her scream should have pierced the air, yet it did not. A hand clamped down her mouth before she could protest.

_Who is it, and what's happening? Two guesses for each question in each review!_

_C._


	30. Electric Storm

Sky was pretty close to pounding his head against the wall. The tension that was building without her even in the room was excruciating. She was only on the other side of the door. Why couldn't she just walk out and act like she didn't want to be anywhere near him like she usually did? She was being cautious, but there hadn't been complete resentment toward him, and that was making his brain hurt.

He didn't understand how angry she could make him. He felt like his skin was on fire, his heart beating outrageously fast. Even his stomach felt weird, like it might have somehow become full of helium and was slowly floating upwards, trying to leave his body. He scowled and leant forward, placing his elbows on his knees and resting his chin in his hands.

It must have suspicion, he thought, that made him keep his eyes on her as she left the room. He wanted to see her again, knowing then what she was doing. It was like all of his nerve endings were frazzled. He heard a thud from the room next door and went over to knock on the wall conspicuously.

"Keep it _down_!" he snapped. He returned to his own bed and rested back on it, putting his hands behind his head and stretching his legs. He was just going to wear what he usually wore – his oldest, most comfortable pair of pants. Just because K was sharing a room with him didn't mean he was going to dress up or anything.

What he didn't know was how freaked out K was in the bathroom. Her thoughts a whirlwind of nerves, she felt like punching a wall to calm herself down. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she realized she was crimson to the roots of her hair. How _pissed_ _off _could this guy make her? The thought of going back into the room with him just made her face heat up more. Clearly, even the thought of him angered her.

She waited a few more minutes, remembering the serenity techniques she'd picked up on in Criminal Psychology. She finally came to the conclusion that the longer she waited it out in the bathroom, the stranger her reactions would become. She exhaled sharply, brushed her hair back with her hands – and stopped abruptly.

Brushing her hair back? What was the point of that?

It had just been a thought that prompted the action, the thought that she apparently looked nicer with her hair off of her face. Internal screaming automatically began: _what the holy fuck are you doing?_ She felt warmth spread across her face and realized precisely what the behavior was. K, the Fifth Kira and niece of one of the most robotic people on the whole frickin' planet was _blushing_.

"Oh, _shit_!" she said, frustrated and without thinking, much louder than she'd intended.

"Are you all right in there?" he called.

Oh _fuck_. Now she was referring to him as 'he', as if there was nobody else. That was not a good sign. She froze and responded just loud enough for Sky to hear.

"I'm fine."

_What the fucking hell _is _this?_

Sky himself felt kind of sick now. He was beginning to recount his symptoms: an erratic heartbeat, not wanting to take his eyes away, butterflies in his stomach, warm skin… Sky's eyes widened in pure horror.

"Shit," he growled. "The bitch has actually _won_."

He mentally slapped himself for that. No. No, she hadn't won. He just needed time to recuperate, and then he would strike back again.

_Okay, _he thought. _It's an impossibility that she has actually managed to make me – nope, no need to even think it. I just need to figure this out. It can't be that difficult. She's a complete _bitch.

_Don't let this get to you, _she thought. _Maybe I'm just being oversensitive. It's a natural reaction when this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen. Oh God, I can't say it; if there's a price for my silence, I will pay whatever I have to._

When she finally left the bathroom, she glanced over at Sky. It appeared that he had lost all of his arrogance for some reason. Instead, he was glaring at her as she climbed onto her own bed to the left of his. She wondered what she'd possibly done this time to annoy him besides borrowing his room without permission. He honestly looked like he wanted to attack her.

He shifted along so he could switch off the lamp between them.

"No sexual advances then?" she said sarcastically.

"No sexual advances," he agreed.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He flicked the light off. Both sighed.

Suddenly, she felt herself being knocked sideways, her wrists being pinned above her head by a steel grip. Her scream should have pierced the air, yet it did not. A hand clamped down her mouth before she could protest. The hand moved when she made no more sound. For a moment, it stopped lightly on her throat. Then she felt the pressure along her body lift and blinked as the light came back on again.

Sky laughed. "I'm only joking. I wasn't going to rape you."

"Right," she said coldly, sitting up again. "Thanks."

"Where's your sense of humor?" he asked.

"Good_night_, Sky," she barked. She turned away and lay on top of the covers.

"What are you so annoyed about?" he growled. He frowned, watching her in mystification. He stood up from his own bed, going to sit at the foot of hers. He reached across to tuck some hair behind her ear. "Is it maybe because I _didn't _do anything?"

She sat up sharply, glowering at him.

"No, it is _not _because you didn't do anything," she snapped. "It is because you are an absolute bastard who thinks he can get his own way at any time with anyone!"

"You'd know all about that," he said wryly. "Think about it. We both think we can get what we want because of who we are. You're in line to become the world's greatest detective. I'm in line to be the world's greatest criminal."

She leant forward, her face inches from his. "Well, I've beaten you in two different ways, then."

He waited, holding his breath.

"I'm going to be the world's greatest detective, but I'm _already _the world's greatest criminal. I've killed thousands, been caught and I _still _got away with it. Technically…" She rested back on her pillow again. "I'm over one hundred times more dangerous than you are."

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I like to play with my food before I eat it. It's more fun that way."

"Oh, so _that's _where I went wrong."

"So you admit it?" he murmured. "You really are the Fifth Kira?"

She nodded once.

**XXX**

Matt sat up. It was just his luck – that the one night he decided he didn't want to stay up till morning playing Black Ops and he couldn't sleep from the storm that raging outside. He glanced out through the window, seeing rain pound against the glass and a shock of forked lightning hit somewhere a few miles away. He went to close the curtains, yet paused for a moment. Something felt wrong.

There was a knock at the door. He turned and saw Near in the doorway. His ordinarily emotionless expression had a hint of concern combined with it.

"It's raining," he drawled.

"I noticed," Matt remarked.

"Mello will be along shortly, I imagine," he said. "He was delayed by that Scarlett woman. We both felt that we should come speak to you. We believed you should know that the investigators in California will be arriving home tomorrow. They leave at nine o'clock in the morning Las Vegas time, and arrive at Gatwick Airport at five o'clock in the afternoon London time. They should be here by half past eight tomorrow evening."

"Okay."

Mello entered, closing the door behind him. "Are you all right, Matt?"

"I'm fine," he answered. "I just feel like there's something niggling at the back of my brain. Who knows? It might just be the crazy weather."

"First summer storm," Mello shrugged.

"I think I just need to get some rest." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Things have been pretty stressful lately."

"I don't trust B," Mello added. "Or M. I know you don't really want to hear it, Matt, but she's not necessarily changed into another person. She's just showing who she always was, and she's not going to tone it down anymore."

"I know," Matt sighed. "But I can't help feeling there's something else. Something we're not noticing…"

**XXX**

The pain tightened. C jerked out of bed and found that she could barely make it to switch the light on because it was as if the pain had crippled her. She gasped and felt her knees buckle. L blinked away his confusion and leapt toward her, supporting her by the elbows. The fight they had been dealing with was long forgotten. Whatever was happening was really hurting.

"What's happening?" he asked quickly. "What's going on?"

"I need to see a doctor," she told him. "Please."

He nodded. He hooked his arm around her waist and helped her sit back on the bed. They both got dressed and made their way to the car. Once they got to the hospital, the doctor spoke to her. He suggested L wait outside if he was just her employer. She had some fresh clothes handed to her and began to change, then realized what had caused her so much pain.

Blood.

No. She couldn't be bleeding. She knew the biology basics; when you were pregnant, you did not get your period. It just didn't happen. Unless…

She went to sit down in the doctor's office. He asked her a series of questions, then reached the one she was most afraid of. She could sense it coming before he even spoke.

"Are you pregnant, Miss MacDermid?"

She bowed her head. "Yes. I am. Nine weeks."

"I see. If it's all right with you, I think we should take a scan to see how the child is doing. This could be a bit of a scare, but we should check just in case." She followed him to another room, passing L on the way, and stopped in the pediatrics office for the scan. A woman squeezed the gel onto her stomach, placed the ultrasound scanner on the gel and waited.

The nurse frowned. "I think I need to talk to the doctor."

It was as if her heart had been wrenched from her chest. Already, she knew that it wasn't just malfunctioning equipment. This hadn't just been a scare. She had lost something – someone – she had never really known, and it terrified her more than anything. The physical pain she would be able to deal with. This was something entirely different.

The nurse returned with the doctor C had spoken to. She whispered something and pointed to the screen. He shook his head. He moved around it to speak to her.

"I don't know if you aware of this, Miss MacDermid, but there are _two_ heartbeats in that sonogram," he informed her.

Her eyes widened in shock. "Two?"

"Yes, two. You're carrying twins, Miss MacDermid."

Her jaw dropped. "Twins?"

"Usually a bump does not show this early in the pregnancy, however with more than one child present it does not surprise me if you've been feeling particularly unwell or your bump is a little more obvious. We can't tell what the genders of the children are quite yet, but-"

"Two heartbeats," she mumbled. "That means they're both all right?"

"They're perfectly well," the nurse clarified. "There was a worry for a moment. If you're under stress, miscarriages could occur, but these two seem pretty determined to hold on until you're ready. It looks like you have a set of wonderfully healthy twins on the way."

"When… when are they due?"

"January?" the nurse suggested. "If you're nine weeks in, it'll be late December, early January. Do you want to see them?"

Wordlessly, she nodded. She couldn't really concentrate on how the nurse was pointing out the head and the hands of the two beings. All she could do was feel horribly guilty as she drank in every moment of seeing them, knowing that L still didn't know about them. She promised herself that she would tell him as soon as they were back at Wammy's and had a chance to speak on their own.

* * *

_On the way back to Wammy's next time! Of course, last chapter's song was 'The Little Things' by legend Danny Elfman, and this chapter was 'Electric Storm' by Deltra Goodrem. Cookies to Miss Bright, the 100th reviewer! Holy shit, I'd better start writing good stuff to make this worth your time. Yay for it being the 30th chapter 'anniversary' of 'Beyond's House'. Just think: for 'Blood Ties' 30th chapter, Jacob Lewis (Slo's uncle) was murdered by Hamlet, and for the 30th chapter of 'Looks Like Light Lost', Misa was planning the oh-so-eventful Christmas party!_

**Preview**

"Why the fuck didn't you say in the first place?"

"Because it was wishful thinking!"

_Who's saying this, and what's it about? Three guesses in each review._

_C._


	31. Ocean Princess

Sky felt a pillow strike his face and blinked away the sleep in his eyes. He rubbed them, still only semi-conscious. He pushed the pillow off his face and saw K pulling on a pair of jeans as quickly as possible. For a moment, there was a weird, throaty noise in his brain that sounded like a long, drawn-out 'uh', and then he began to recollect what had actually happened the night before.

"_I'm over one hundred times more dangerous than you are."_

His eyes opened wide. He found himself rolling off the bed onto the floor with a loud crash. She arched an eyebrow and threw him a shirt. He pulled himself up and tugged the shirt she'd given him over his head. When he glanced in the mirror, he saw he had a seriously dreadful case of bed-head, so much so that he resembled a Beyond with blue eyes.

"_It's more fun that way."_

"Hurry up," she instructed. "C knocked on the door a few minutes ago. She thinks it's just you in here, and she wants us all down in the lobby by seven at least, remember?"

"Oh, _shit_," he groaned.

"You'll live."

"K…"

"What?" She stopped for a moment as she had gone to pick up a shoe.

"Last night…"

"We didn't have sex, Sky," she said bluntly. "It's no big deal."

"Yeah, but we were pretty close-"

"I was cold, so I joined you."

"Still-"

"Look, Sky." Her voice was firm, her tone carrying an air of finality. "I don't know how much me sharing a bed with you meant to you, but to me it was a way of getting warm. The air conditioning in here is crazily strong. I did what I needed to. That's it. If you want to talk about this, send it to me in writing, because it really is _no big deal_."

Sky glared when her back was turned. He had made the effort to let her sleep beside him, and it turned out that now the comeback plan had been completely useless. She was in the lead in the race again, and he was left to bring up the rear.

_Bitch, _he thought.

_Smug bastard_, crossed her mind.

**XXX**

L was drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. It was five minutes to seven, and any minute now the rest of the troupe should be arriving. Damnation, Sky, K and Nancy had apparently all had a quick breakfast together and had turned up at the same time. L and Damnation had gotten all of their luggage down and now they were just waiting for Rebel and Slo. He had no idea what they were doing, but he wasn't in a particularly patient mood that morning.

After taking C to the hospital the previous night, he had received no explanation, only that she needed to see a doctor once they were back in England and from there on out, they would have a better understanding of what the problem actually was. When he had tried to ask for more, she told him that she just didn't know enough yet.

They had not informed the other six of the nighttime outing. They decided that until they knew more, they would keep it quiet. Finally, they saw Rebel and Slo sprinting out with their wheelie suitcases. They both appeared rather flustered, so Damnation took their suitcases from them and loaded them into the back of the car.

"Thank you for finally joining us," C said.

"We were busy!"

"Busy not being ready, or _busy_?" she suggested.

"C!" called L. "I think we'd better go!"

"Look, guys, I don't care what you've been doing, but can you at least have the decency to turn up on time when we have a twelve-hour flight ahead of us?" C sighed. "_Thank _you."

"Oh, come on!" Slo snapped. "It's not like you've never been late for something!"

"Twelve hours, Slo."

"And I'm pretty sure you were doing way worse stuff at our age!" he insisted. "I mean, you were jetting off around the world with L when you were eighteen! Are you saying you never-?"

"Slo?" She sounded startled, though he was in mid-flow and did not seem to pick up on it.

"It's just _sex_, for God's sake!" he said sharply.

All who were clambering into the car froze. Rebel saw L press his forehead against the steering wheel and mutter what sounded like, "I did _not _need to hear that this early in the morning."

C looked amused, like she thought the whole situation was so funny she had to press her lips together to stay quiet. She jerked her head in the direction of the car they'd hired to drive to the airport. "Get in the car, you two." She sat in the passenger seat and patted L's shoulder. "We should have gotten some coffee before we started on that topic of discussion."

**XXX**

M glared at him, processing what she had just been told. He sat on the other side of the desk, perfectly still. She was waiting for him to say that he was lying again, that he was just joking. By the time thirty seconds had passed, it was clear to her that he wasn't going to say anything more on the subject. Furious, she picked up an unused glass ashtray and launched it with all her power at the spot just above Beyond's head.

He managed to narrowly avoid the ashtray, only through slamming his head against the desk. Palms flat either side of his head, he pushed himself up so he was suddenly crouching upon the desk, his shoulders hunched around him. He resembled a coiled predator ready to pounce.

"I don't like being attacked in this way, M," he warned her. "You are well aware of that, I believe."

"I have a good enough reason," she growled, "that being the fact you lied to me about something particularly important. I despise being the last to find out about something."

"You're not the last," he shrugged.

"But I'm not the first, am I?" she pointed out.

B jumped off the desk. "M, if you were the first person to find out, I doubt you would have dealt with it as efficiently as I have done. We fan the flames and hope that it won't help a resistance build up against us, you see? That's all we can do, unless you want to bring the plan forward, unprepared…"

"No."

"Then shut up and stop complaining."

"You told me K had committed suicide."

"Indeed I did. And yet, life goes on – for some of us. I think it will change a fair amount for a few, for example, K's alternative option, Mr. Samuel Lewis. He…" B cracked his knuckles. "…Is falling for Rebel quicker than we could have anticipated, and her job will be unbelievably easy, if I have any knowledge to go by."

She glowered. "It is only by your so-called knowledge that we have just lost a vital asset; the death of K. It's a domino effect. Dispose of one and you efficiently dispose of another. The cycle continues until we are the only ones standing."

B wandered over to the window. His gaze seemed to linger on the playground for a while. Even when he spoke next, he did not turn back. His voice low, as though he were stuck in his past, came out. His eyes were far away, unfocused.

"These children out here are like lambs to the slaughter," he murmured. "They are reared, raised and thrown out to be killed. I saw it happen at Wammy's when I went here. It almost happened to me. But I fought back, and that got me hated and disowned by what they called a _family_." He clenched his teeth. "There's no such thing as a true, feeling family. There is only biology, and only blood."

M snickered. "So profound," she said sarcastically. "Stop it, you'll make cry."

He shot her a look that said _shut up_. "We have a few hours before they arrive. Let's make them count."

**XXX**

Driving back to Winchester from Gatwick seemed to be a painfully long journey. It had been decided that it would be a better idea to greet everyone at once rather than be picked up from the airport by, say, a very enthusiastic Matt. They were already drawing enough attention to themselves with the way they looked – barely any of them were speaking to each other. They climbed into the taxi and by half past eight, had Near had previously predicted, they were being dropped off outside the gates of their Winchester home.

L typed the combination into the keypad that opened the gates and they all entered, taking their suitcases with them. They heard a number of squeals from the doorsteps and out ran Rachel, Nancy's best friend, and Flo, to embrace the tiny blonde. They waved girlishly to Sky, who only nodded without smiling. Checkmate soon sprinted out to tackle Damnation. There was a brief exchange of punches and then Damnation was tapped on the shoulder. He saw Mello behind him and grinned.

"I heard what you did in Los Angeles for the others, kid," he nodded. "You were fantastic. Good man."

"You were right about the not-so-exciting jobs," Damnation shrugged. "So thanks."

K, still slightly hidden behind C, turned towards the front door and her heart spluttered. Donning a black leather jacket, Romeo walked out. He had a small smirk on his face that exactly resembled Hamlet. For a moment, it brought out the same arrogance she would have possessed with him, and then she realized that he was _not _Hamlet; he was meant to be her friend, and something had changed dramatically to make him look this way.

He wandered forward and walked past the others, going to greet her. Sky logged him in his peripheral vision, noticing that this was not the same person he had seen before leaving. Romeo put his arms around K to embrace her, yet the action seemed forced and much too controlled, like he would have preferred to squeeze her so tight that he would break her neck.

She too sensed the tension. Smiling outwardly, she returned the embrace. Her eyes flickered over to Slo, who was too busy greeting Callie to pay her much attention, and then to Damnation, having a game of thumb wars with Checkmate. Finally, she had a chance to look at Sky. Without turning his head the full one hundred and eighty degrees, he nodded, as if confirmation that he had seen her distress.

Romeo did not release her for a moment. However, before he did, he whispered something only she would be able to hear.

"Welcome back, Kira."

She froze and drew back. Her eyes were wide. "What did you say?"

He frowned. "I said, 'welcome back'."

"You said-" She shook her head. "Never mind."

"Oh my… God." They turned to face Checkmate, Flo, Rachel and Callie, all staring at K.

Shaking her head, K pushed past Romeo and dragged her suitcase indoors. She was not in the mood to be dealing with everyone's shock at her living, as Sky had explained that night in Las Vegas General. She saw an open-mouthed Athena on her way there, and continued to head towards her bedroom. Once in there, however, she believed that talking to others may be a better idea. On her bed were flowers, notes and photos. She sat down on the chair in her room after closing the door behind her and buried her head in her hands.

**XXX**

Roger shook L's hand. "Why did you decide to return this time?" he asked.

"We believed that we had been depriving the team of their education of too long, and they needed to be back around their peers. As for the case, it is nearly finished. We only need a call from Donny Kanaan to clarify on our killer. He's still working out there, and so he should be," L answered.

"I recall the name Kanaan," Roger admitted. "Have you mentioned him before?"

"Yes, indeed," L agreed. "We have hired him on a few occasions."

"L," hissed C. "Give me your suitcase. I have to get inside before B sees me. You need to stay out here in order to keep things normal."

He nodded. "Thank you."

"C, how have you been keeping?" Roger enquired.

"I'm very well, thank you," she said. "L, your suitcase."

He handed it to her. "Be careful with those."

"I will…" She suddenly frowned. "Has K gone inside?"

"I saw her a moment ago. She looked like she had something on her mind," L responded. "That's generally your area of expertise."

C's eyes narrowed. "I'll go see how she's doing."

* * *

_I promise next chapter will be more interesting! The song was 'Ocean Princess' by Two Steps From Hell._

**Preview**

"I'm just on my way-" She stopped. "What is that?"

_What is it, and who is it? Two guesses for each question in each review!_

_C._


	32. Strip Me

The phone rang out in the office, meaning that Beyond, who was closest to the room at the time, actually was capable of answering. A moment after he had picked up the phone, he smirked. "This is Hell, Satan speaking," he murmured. "Who may I ask is calling?" To follow up this statement, he cackled maniacally. That would scare off any charity phone calls.

The sound that came in response was the tapping sound of fingertips against keyboard. Even he, who could find pretty much anything funny in any situation, had to frown at this. He endeavored to listen closer, pressing his ear more firmly against the receiver. Still, no clue as to who the caller was became apparent. He scowled.

"Hello?" he snapped. "Who is this?"

He heard a breath and then a sound that reminded him of 'hm'.

"Heavy breathing is so horror-movie cliché," he sneered. "Who is this? If you're selling, I don't want anything."

The next thing he knew, he heard a mechanical voice, like a track being ripped backwards, rather unlike the understandable, tinny voice that L used for broadcasts and communication. This voice was deep, almost demonic in its sound. As soon as Beyond heard it, he listened harder for the precise words and sounds.

The caller then hung up. Beyond grabbed a scrap of paper off of Roger's desk and took out a pen, replacing the receiver. He scribbled down the possibilities of what could have been said by the caller. This took a few moments, as he listened over and over to the sound in his head.

'_I know your sister.'_

'_I know you, Mister.'_

'_I have a list.'_

'_I have missed you.'_

'_Still in Winchester.'_

He stopped. There it was.

'Still in Winchester.'

**XXX**

Class seemed to bring the teens back to the ground with a resounding _thunk_. Even listening to Near in History about the advances of the Allied forces during the Second World War was slightly dull compared to the dynamic movement of their time in the United States. This was a surprising feat, as Near was using Megatron as the Axis forces that had invaded Poland, and Optimus Prime as the Allies, all played out on a massive map that he spread across the floor, shifting all of the desks to the sides of the classroom.

Their second hour was Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with Matt, who was teaching them how to build an efficient tracking device. He made them run all over the school grounds and find each other to test whether they worked or not. Nancy kept copying Rebel on some of the steps, yet it was Rebel who was trying to keep up with Nancy when it came to Chinese later in the day with Mello.

At lunch, the ones who had been to America were lethargic, whilst excitement was constant with the others. Slo was on his own for a while, since K said she wanted to be alone and Rebel was spending her lunch hour talking to M. When he decided to finally seek out Callie, his heart was heavy. He was told he would find her in the library, where she was apparently waiting for him.

"Waiting for me?" He stared.

"She said something about needing to speak with you," Star shrugged. "I swear, that woman isn't half weird sometimes."

He swallowed and went off to meet his girlfriend.

**XXX**

K swept up her sports bag, calling out to Damnation, who had booked them the gym for a sparring match. Into the bag she slipped a can of aerosol and a bottle of water. She ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. She had returned most of the flowers and tokens to their previous owners, and now needed something to take her frustration out on. Damnation had been willing to fight back, which was even better.

"Hurry it up, Number One!" he yelled from outside. "I'm getting old here!"

"I'm just on my way-" She stopped. "What is that?"

She had heard a shuffle behind her. She froze and raised an eyebrow. Slowly, she turned around and took a few steps towards her bed. She heard the door open and sat down on the mattress. He opened his mouth to say something but she put a finger to her lips, indicating that he be silent. He grinned and nodded. Both wandered around the room, treading so lightly they could not hear their own footsteps. They almost gave themselves away by bursting out laughing.

"There's nothing here," K muttered. "We'd better go or someone will take our place."

"Okay, then," Damnation said. He was stopped at the door by K, who opened the door, then closed it without exiting the room. After a few seconds of silence, a small girl with brown hair and too much makeup slipped out from behind K's bookshelf.

She let out a terrified shriek when she saw K and Damnation leaning nonchalantly up against the door, arms folded. She could have only been about fourteen at most, and it was obvious that this hadn't been entirely her idea. Both Damnation and K were brainstorming whose idea it could have been. Several names came to mind: Fall, Leo, Sky…

"I know you from that dance thing," Damnation said calmly. "You're Marianne."

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked. "I didn't break anything! I didn't watch you change or anything! It's not like that!"

K scowled. "So how is it?"

"I didn't-"

"I did not ask you what you _didn't _do." Her voice was sharp and cold. "I'm asking you what you _did_."

"Don't hurt me!" she sobbed. "I promise it wasn't my idea!"

"I thought not," K murmured.

"Okay, okay," Damnation said, putting his hands up. "I don't like making girls cry. That's just not cool with me."

K shot him an eerily serene look. "You can go, then."

"Whoa," he said in a questioning tone. "What are you going to do to her?"

"Marianne and I are going to talk," she explained. "You just won't be around to watch her _cry_-"

"All right!" Marianne spluttered. "It was the SSFC! They made me do it! They said if I wanted to stay in the group I had to keep an eye on you and find out the truth! I'm sorry – don't kill me!"

K grinned. "You know, I wasn't actually going to do anything."

Marianne's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, God… I can't believe I said…"

"You are such a bitch," Damnation told K. "You're totally fucking with this girl's head."

"That's nothing to what I would have done if you'd actually left," she admitted. "I probably would have just stayed silent watching her creepily until she'd spilled."

"Mind torture at its best," Damnation sighed. "So who the fuck are the SSFC?"

Marianne bowed her head. "Once classes finish, go to the athletics track. You'll find them there."

**XXX**

C lay back on her bed. She was absolutely exhausted, more so than she had been in California or Nevada. It was as if just being on her feet was enough to make her want to pass out. She'd been pretending that it was jetlag. Now she could admit it to herself. Finding that she was carrying not just herself around, but two others, was a special kind of nightmare. This was a nightmare she couldn't just wake out of, and it was one she didn't want to be rid of.

She hadn't had a single chance to be with L alone yet. She had to have some chance soon, or he may never find out about what had happened. She took her failing to tell him to start with as a sign that she was horribly nervous about what was coming, though she could have deduced that herself without that much assistance required.

She heard the sound of someone rolling out over the carpet. She peered over the edge and saw M there, lying on the floor, totally chilled. C didn't even flinch at the sight of her there. In fact, it hadn't even been a surprise. She'd been expecting an unusual form of greeting. M got to her feet and went to sit at the foot of her bed.

"How long have you been waiting there?" she sighed.

"About half an hour. So… good to have you back." She aimed a swift punch to the stomach, which C blocked, her heart hammering.

"Nice to see you, too," she chuckled. "You always were a bit violent with you hellos."

"You're acting a bit panicky," M said. "Is everything all right?"

_OF COURSE I'M PANICKING! _"I'm fine."

"You were… C, you were in another country with L for over a month," M pointed out.

"Which I have done before, and I had no problem then," C responded casually.

"Yeah, but that was before you left him for two years and realized he fancied the pants off you. Literally." She patted her shoulder. "Look at me in the eyes and tell me that you didn't feel anything when you were away with him."

"I can't lie to you that way," she admitted. "I felt lots of things. I felt anger, I felt frustration, I felt happy and I felt acceptance. All at the same time."

"Acceptance is a strange one," M said. "You were always accepted here."

"Maybe I shouldn't phrase it quite like that," she laughed. "Perhaps I should say it like this: before, when you last saw me, I couldn't accept that this annoying person was exactly who he was. I thought because he was this great detective, he _had _to be more than he was. I can accept him now. He is who he is, and I am who I am. We have our places."

"As friends?"

"Precisely."

M snickered. "You have got to be joking. Are you saying you never, you know, like-liked him?"

"I think he'll stick to being moral support," C said, dodging the question. "Come on, then. I want you to tell me about what you've been up to in our absence."

"Well, where the _fuck _do I start…?" M groaned.

**XXX**

On her way toward the athletics track, K saw Slo sitting on the fence. He looked regretful, his hair messy as if he'd been running his hands through it. With just a glance at him, she could deduce what had occurred. Wordlessly, she sat down beside him, holding onto the railing. Once safely perched on the railing, she lifted one hand and gave his a reassuring squeeze.

"Callie broke up with me," he said quietly.

"No shit," K murmured.

"She knew," he sighed. "Of course she knew. What sort of idiot was I to think I could keep something like that from a relationship seer? Shit… why did I do it? I never thought I could do that Callie, not to anyone. I never thought there would be anyone who could actually make me do it…"

"I did say I wouldn't stop you, but you'd have to deal with the consequences," she explained. "You knew that. And yet you went ahead and did it anyway. What does that say about you, Slo?"

"I get it," he grumbled. "I think with my dick. I'm an idiot."

"Yeah, besides that."

"Oh, there's more?"

She smiled. "Of course there is. You think I'd just stop and talk to you to tell you what an absolute moron you've been?"

Slo arched an eyebrow. "Yes."

"Fair play, but think about it out of context. This is not you. This is some other guy. This is… say, a friend you know. This guy would never cheat on his girlfriend, period, because it goes against everything that he believes and knows. Then this new girl comes along, and she's a bit of a bitch, to put it simply. But she softens around this guy, and he thinks they're friends, just friends-"

"Wait a second-"

"No interrupting. This girl is able to make this guy, whose convictions were once so strong, go back on what he believed. Why would he dare do that to his girlfriend, who is a wonderfully kind, friendly and loving person? What do you think I'm going to say next, Slo?" Her expression was perfectly relaxed.

"You're going to say the guy loved her."

K's face changed to one of mock surprise. "No, I wasn't. I was going to say that you really didn't deserve Callie if you cheated on her, but you know… you drew your own conclusions."

"You're saying I _love _Rebel?"

"I didn't say anything about love. _You _said the words, not me."

He shook his head. "And you're not judging me for any of this, right?"

"I think you're a first class tosser for the one-night stand, but we can't just ignore what we feel, can we?" she pointed out. "C and L tried it and failed. You and Rebel tried it and failed. Mello and Near tried it and failed. The experiments have been done, Slo."

"For someone who's such a cynic about liking people herself, you're awfully good at this," he mumbled.

"You know why?"

"Nope. I never understood you."

"It's because I am such a bloody fantastic hypocrite," she laughed. She jumped down off the fence, letting go of Slo's hand. She looked up at the bleachers by the athletics track.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm getting together with the SSFC for a group meeting!" she beamed as she set off.

"What's the SSFC?" he called out after her.

"Not a fucking clue!" she yelled back.

* * *

_Thank you for all the people who were awesome enough to review. You motivate me to keep going and sometimes your reviews even break through the writer's block that so often plagues me._

**Preview**

"You know, I'm seriously considering whether throwing off of this thing is a good idea."

_Who says it, and who's it being said to? Two guesses for each question in each review!_

_C._


	33. I'll Try

Callie sifted through the photos, smiling at one in which she beamed out at the camera with no front teeth. Her bright blonde hair was tied in a plait and she remembered that she was smiling at the camera not because she was meant to, but because she had loved the link between the photographer and the young woman that arrived with him. In another, she and C pulled faces. She recalled Mello taking that one.

She heard someone behind her and turned around to see a pair of gleaming scarlet eyes watching her. She almost jumped out of her seat, when all he was doing was standing there. Wordlessly, he pulled back a chair, letting it scrape loudly against the floor. He did not sit on it, but instead, laid across it on his front. If he had crouched it, Callie may have been less disturbed, seeing as she was so used to L, but this was just off the scale of weird.

"I hear you broke up with Slo," he murmured.

She lifted her chin indignantly. "Not that it's any of your business."

"It is, if he's getting involved with one of my coworker's successors," he pointed out.

Callie said nothing.

"You know, it was probably for the best," he shrugged. "It wouldn't have been a long-lasting relationship, after all."

She glared at him, then the true meaning of his words sank in and her heart dropped into the soles of her feet. She was beginning to panic a little, wondering if what Beyond was saying was just a joke meant to test her. She stared at him for a while, waiting for him to say more. He did not. He sat up now, perching on the chair so that he leant in close to her.

"Do you want to know when?" he hissed.

"Leave me alone."

"That's not very nice. I want to help."

"I don't care about Slo anymore. I don't care when he dies, or _how_!"

"You'll care if you're the one who kills him," Beyond said. "And you might be. It might be someone else, though. It might be me. It might be Rebel. It might be M. It might be K-"

"Why would K kill Slo? They're friends!" Callie snapped.

"Oh," Beyond chuckled. "Didn't you know? K was – and still is – the Fifth Kira."

Callie stood up, staggering backwards. "Don't make accusations like that."

"It's not an accusation. I know it myself. The girl's a true serial killer," he admitted. "Do you want to know how many she killed?"

"Get out!" Callie gasped. "Stop talking!"

"One thousand, one hundred and fifty-six," he laughed. "She has some serious issues, I can tell you that. And you know what? She never even told you about it – doesn't that hurt one little bit-?"

Callie shoved him sharply so he fell off the chair. Her answering glower was enough to keep even him quiet.

"You don't know K," she told him quietly. "You have _no idea_ who she is, or what she does. She is such a good person. You are so _sick _and so… so sad." She got down on her knees so her face was level with B's. She cupped the side of his face in her palm. "I'm sorry for what life did to you, but you can't keep this up. If you carry on this way, there won't be anything left for you, worse than before."

When she pulled back and removed her hand, she saw him slump in her peripheral vision. He reached out for her wrist, yet she didn't let him take it. Instead, she took his hand and squeezed it.

"Still human," she sighed, "even with the eyes."

**XXX**

The group of girls all hanging around in the bleachers let out a breath of exultation as their idol ran past on the track. He heard them and turned to face the place where they sat. He paused. All of them waved at him excitedly, barely containing their awe at his attention. He arched an eyebrow skeptically, raising a hand to wave back tentatively. All of those gathered let out a squeal.

"He was waving at me!" Fall shrieked.

"No, _me_!" barked Cerys.

"_Me_!" Gemini insisted.

"Actually, I think he was waving at me," a voice said from behind them.

The girls emitted a short scream when they saw K standing on the bench just above them. Her expression was one of sinister amusement, the sort that made you feel uncomfortable with no words spoken. She reached into her jacket pocket and took out a wrapped lollipop. She unrolled the cellophane and licked it once before speaking again.

"You know," she said calmly, "I'm not an idiot. I'm going to notice someone sneaking into my room. I am more than a bit renowned for my smarts, so don't tell me what you're up to. I think I want to figure it out. Let's see; who's here? Fall, Cerys, Aries, Gemini, Brooke, Cleo, Star… oh. You're gathered here for a mutual love of someone, or mutual hate. I would have said mutual hate for me, seeing you put Marianne in my room, but no, that's not it."

"Hey!" She heard a voice from the track. "What are you doing here?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh, no."

"What?" Star asked.

"You have got to be fucking _kidding _me," she groaned, face-palming. "_Please_."

She saw Sky jump up the bleachers and her fear was confirmed as the girls that surrounded her inhaled sharply. He looked a bit pissed off, a bit confused and a bit amused all at the same time. She suddenly wanted to turn back and go hang out with Slo again. She folded her arms and stepped off the bench.

"Will you just _fuck _off?" she demanded.

"I was here first," he pointed out. "You came to me."

"That's what she said," K said, unable to stop herself. He blinked in surprise at her comment, then both burst out laughing. "That was one of the worst things to say anywhere near you."

"I don't know, I liked it."

"That's why it was one of the worst things."

"So harsh."

"I could have said that you're an arrogant, chauvinistic bastard with little regard for personal space and others' feelings, but you know…" She shrugged.

"What are you doing here anyway?"

"We're here too," Fall breathed.

"Oh, yeah, hi," he nodded in acknowledgment, then turning his attention back to K. "So…?"

"I'm working out what _they're _doing here. I think I've got it. Did you realize that there were people who had set up your fan club?" K sniggered. "It's such a fucking stupid idea… I can't believe it."

"Fan club?" He smirked. "Were you asking for membership?"

"Never in a million years."

"Okay, yeah, whatever, White Bitch-" He froze and clapped his hand over his mouth.

"What did you say?" she growled. "Now I'm going to kill you!"

Fluidly, he jumped over the benches towards the ground and kept running on the track. She made to catch him at first, then thought it through and sank back to sit down. The girls stared at her for a while.

"Why'd you let him get away?"

"I'll just wait till he's looped the _circular _track and is back here." She gestured to the athletics track.

"Why don't you like him?" snapped Fall. "He's hot as hell."

"Why _don't _I like him? Because he's rude, cocky, insolent, irritating, reckless, impulsive, teasing, annoying, kind, funny, sweet… when did that get positive?"

She tried to work it through in her head, blocking out the giggles from the girls beside her. She ran her fingers through her hair and ignored the nudges and stupid sniggers she was getting. Eventually, she got up and left the athletics track, yelling back:

"Don't ever send anyone into my room _ever again_!"

On the way to her room, she saw Romeo approach her. Her feet automatically responded to the sight of him, powering her forward so it was harder for him to catch up. He managed to reach her speed regardless and put a hand on her shoulder, making her slow down. She walked even quicker. He jerked her shoulder in his direction.

"Let _go _of me!" she hissed. "I don't have time for your crap!"

"You're not getting away that easily!" he growled as she picked up the pace and began to run. He matched her speed and pushed her over to trap her. He rolled her over onto her front and pinned her down by her shoulders on the grass. "Now try to wriggle your way out of this one!"

To his astonishment, she put up no resistance. Instead of going against his body weight, all she did was go limp. He saw the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, yet other than that, she did not move. With her being so melancholy and unresponsive, he did not see the evil that had been implied by her record. She was just as she had been in his mind when he was told of her death: he saw her as if he saw a corpse.

Rain began to fall. He got up off his knees and headed back to the main building, leaving her lying there. As she clambered to her feet also, he threw a look of suspicion at her over his shoulder. She met his eyes with sadness, as though she had no idea what had brought on his attack. Once on her feet, she brushed off the dirt all over her clothes.

She began to recall the feeling of being hated, and the feeling of hating everyone.

Perhaps she _should _talk to Romeo.

**XXX**

Sky ran in, shaking the rain out of his hair. Damnation threw him a towel, laughing at how completely saturated his clothes were. It was a miracle he could even lift an arm with the sleeve that soaked in water. Checkmate pointed to the bench at the side of the gym, indicating where he should put his jacket.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," Sky muttered, "I got kinda held up."

"Oh yeah?" Damnation snickered. "By who?"

"SSFC," Sky grumbled. He picked up one of the red rubber balls from the gym floor, throwing it in the air.

"What is that, by the way?" asked Damnation. "I heard about them when K and me found a spy of theirs in her bedroom. We were supposed to be sparring, but she got distracted by finding out who they were."

"Sky Saxon Fan Club," Sky said under his breath. The others laughed, throwing the rubber balls at him.

"_That's _what's wrong with 'em!" Angelo grinned. "We should have known!"

"Oh, shut it," Sky snapped. "Have we decided the teams?"

"Checkmate's got Jackson, Slo and Angelo," Damnation said. "I'm on your team with Romeo and Crow."

"Why am I on _your _team?" Sky demanded.

"'Cause I'm the one who's not allowed to bully you for being a Beyond's kid," Damnation sighed mock-sadly. "It's so unfair. I'm not that cruel…"

"_We _are!" Jackson shouted.

"Rules?" Slo suggested.

"The ball hits you anywhere and you're out, unless you catch it or deflect it," Angelo said. "No pain, no gain. A teammate catches a ball when you're out and you come back on. Simple as that, guys. Throw as hard as you want."

**XXX**

"You're an idiot," K laughed. "Repeat it after me: I will not ask to be put on the opposite team to Damnation."

"I will not ask to be put on the opposite team to Damnation," Sky repeated in a monotone. "I only came over here to ask if I could have my jacket back."

"I don't have your jacket," Damnation said. "However, I _do _have your pride, dignity…"

"Okay, shut up."

"Sky, you got hit in the side of the face with a dodgeball," Slo pointed out. "We can't _not _say anything about it. You have a bruise on your cheek and I don't know you did it, but you got a cut on your eyebrow."

"Thanks, Slo, I never would have noticed it if you hadn't pointed it out," Sky said sarcastically. "Ugh, who has my jacket, then?"

"I could name some people," K muttered, glancing over at the SSFC.

Sky punched her on the arm. "You see, _some _people like me."

"_Some _people have no sense," she muttered. "Clearly."

"You love me really-"

At this, she got up, ignoring her dinner and sweeping her coat around her shoulders as she headed for the door that led to the gardens outside. Sky frowned and looked down at Slo, who was watching the door as if she might enter through it once more.

"What's wrong with her?" Sky asked.

Slo glared at him. "Why do you care?"

"I was only asking," Sky sneered. "It's the polite thing to do. But you wouldn't know courtesy if it hit you in the face, evidently."

"What, like that dodgeball hit you?" Slo said sharply.

Damnation just couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Finally, he got up and went off to follow his friend.

"Aw, I love being underestimated sometimes," he murmured to himself.

* * *

_I love Damnation to bits - he is probably one of my favourite OCs of all time (of the ones I came up with)._

_The song is 'I'll Try' by Jonatha Brooke, and last chapter, if you didn't know already, 'Strip Me' by Natasha Bedingfield. _

**Preview**

"'I hope you didn't take too long to find this'," she read quietly to herself, "'and I hope that you can forgive yourself for what you did.'"

_Who is this, and what is she reading? Two guesses for each question in each review (it's not that difficult, I hope)._

_C._


	34. The Double

As much as K tried to convince herself that she wasn't weak when it came to her friends and remaining family, there was no longer any chance for her to deny it. She had done the thing she had promised herself she would never do. She had let down her barriers in the face of an enemy. Now she considered what had happened, she thought of the ramifications of such a decision.

There was still a constant war going on in Wammy's House. The fact that Beyond and L still had not patched up their confrontation was proof of that. As long as there was a dispute, what she was thinking could never be permitted to exist. It would create an even further rift between the two sides, which would be difficult to heal. A hunch was not worth putting everyone in danger.

She rested her forehead on the side of the bookcase and let out a growl of frustration. She began to sink down so she was kneeling on the floor, counting her breaths to calm herself. She got to about fifteen when she opened her eyes. She dropped back against her bed and then saw the gap between the back of her bookcase and the wall. She leant forward and pushed the bookshelf back up against the wall.

What caught her eye then was a string. Something told her to pull it out from underneath the wooden structure slowly. As she did, she heard a few clicks and a quiet whirring as the bookcase swung open and something dropped down onto the floor. The edges were slightly charred from what she could see.

As she picked it up, she let out a scream.

**XXX**

"Did you hear something?" Slo asked.

"Huh?" Damnation mumbled, throwing a tennis ball at the wall of the main building so it rebounded and he could catch it one-handedly. "Hear something?"

"It sounded like someone screaming," Slo said. "It might be nothing."

**XXX**

Romeo stopped in his tracks. The scream had reached him much more easily than it had hit anybody else – because he had been standing right outside K's room at the time. He went to open the door and found that it was locked from the inside. He beat his fists on the wood, his heart pounding. He couldn't hear anything else from inside the room.

For K, the searing pain that had threatened to break open her skull from within had evaporated, leaving only clarity that was slightly masked by mist. Her breathing hiked, coming fast and heavy. She finally opened her eyes and found the strength to turn the page of what she'd discovered, though she knew what would be written there without looking.

"'You're back'," she read. "'The real you, and not who everyone thinks you are. You did well to hide it up till this point. Now it's time to finish this.'"

She heard someone knocking loudly and incessantly at the door she had locked on her way in. She shook her head and kept reading. Her voice was merely a whisper. She read it all quickly.

"'I hope you didn't take too long to find this'," she read quietly to herself, "'and I hope that you can forgive yourself for what you did.'"

"K!" Romeo yelled, beginning to panic. "Open the door!"

"Koneko's notebook," K gasped. She leapt to her feet and dropped it on the floor, glancing around, paranoid, for the shinigami she knew would never appear.

"K!" he bellowed again. "Let me in!"

"_No_!" she screamed. "I'm not going to be that again! Leave me _ALONE_!"

"What are you talking about?" Romeo shouted. "K, let me in!"

"Get out of here!" she shrieked. "Don't come anywhere near me!"

Romeo eventually managed to shoulder the door so it caved in, meaning he saw K standing there over the old, dusty and slightly charred Death Note, trembling and furious. He touched her shoulder. Her hand instinctively swung back to claw him, the insanity beginning to reclaim her. The scratches he'd gained started to bleed. He reached for her again and finally saw exactly what his brother had seen before he died.

"K," he whispered.

"Get out," she growled. "Now."

"You…" The anger he'd possessed at the thought of his brother being murdered by the Fifth Kira resurfaced, his hands taking on a mind of their own as they extended to wrap themselves around his former friend's throat.

At first, she kicked and squirmed, incapable of crying out for help. Then the look on her face morphed from one of shock and horror to one of pure, undiluted fury. Her own hand hit him back, knocking him to the ground. He pulled her down with him, though having to release her throat to break his fall. For a stunned moment, the two lay on the floor beside each other, still.

K scrambled to her feet at the same time as Romeo. His hand closed around thin air to start with, then as he threw forward his other one, his grip tightened on the girl's hair. She was pulled back and thrown to the other side of the room, smashing the mirror on the dressing table. With her fingertips, she touched the droplets of blood forming on her temple.

She didn't have time to fight back, for by the time she had gotten to her feet, Romeo had taken hold of her hair again. Her scalp burning, she glared up at who she had once called a friend.

"What _really _happened to my brother?" he barked.

"I – don't – know what – you're talking – about," she choked out, black spots dancing across her vision.

"I want to hear it from _you_!" he snapped. "No more lies!"

"I don't know!" she gasped. "Let go of me!"

"Stop it!" he yelled.

"I don't _know_!" she hissed, feeling her eyes well up with tears. She used this to her advantage, beginning to sob openly. "Please, Romeo! I don't know what you mean!"

"Don't… don't do that," he said.

"I'm your friend," she wept. "I'm your friend… let me go. I haven't… I don't know… what you mean…"

He no longer had the fire in him. Romeo dropped her and screwed up his face with the pain that throbbed in his head. Forgetting everything, he stormed out of her room. She leant back against the dressing table leg, the blood from her cut trickling down her face. With her left foot, she kicked the Death Note under her bed, not wanting to look at it anymore.

Her eyes closed and she felt herself slip out of consciousness.

**XXX**

Sky was on his way to his room to get some rest when he saw Romeo looking pretty messed up. He went to hold the guy's shoulder so he'd stop and talk to him about what happened, but all Romeo did was brush his hand off, continuing to power-walk on past. Sky would have thought nothing of it, except that when he looked down at his hand, he saw that the place Romeo had touched it had blood smeared on it.

His eyes widened as he began to ran in the direction of where Romeo had just come from. He didn't see anyone or anything of importance to begin with. He did, however, remember hearing something crash earlier on and a scream – that he'd been convinced was just a girl freaking out over a spider or something. He noticed something off halfway down the corridor.

K's door was ever-so-slightly ajar.

It was the tiniest detail, but enough to trigger his curiosity, so he tentatively pushed it open to find chaos. Shards of mirror were strewn across the floor by the dressing table. Objects had been knocked over and the bookshelf was pushed away from the wall at an angle for some reason. What caught his eye, though, was a girl leaning up against the dressing table, her eyes closed and blood dripping off her face.

"Oh shit," he hissed.

He trod carefully around the glass shards, brushing some to the side, and knelt in front of K. He checked the cut on her forehead and grabbed a pillow off her bed to strip away the pillowcase and use it to press against the wound. He looked at her up and down just in case she had any other gaping injuries and applied more pressure to the cut. He yelled for anyone else and soon Athena arrived.

Her expression said exactly what he was thinking.

"Who could have done this?" she asked, horrified.

"It was Romeo," Sky said. "It has to be."

"Romeo?" The name came out strangled.

"It doesn't matter who did it right now," Sky said. "Go get someone else. I don't think I have the world's best medical skill."

"Are you sure it was-?"

"_Go,_ Athena. Now."

Athena threw one last scared glance at the two of them, then sprinted for the door.

**XXX**

Eve watched as K was taken, bruised and bloody, to the infirmary. Matt went in to clear up the mess that had been left and Mello helped carry the stretcher. A white sheet was draped over most of her body. The only part uncovered was her face, as white as the sheet itself, and the hand that fell limp over the side of the stretcher.

She had heard some of the commotion, mainly only the loudest parts. She had listened intently to the whispers of the gossipers, the ones who would tell their friends anything to seem like they knew the most about the situation. Apparently, it had been a secret lovers' spat, where K had tried to break it off and Romeo had just completely lost it. Apparently, it had been Romeo that started it, demanding that K give up her position as number one. Apparently, it had been a small argument that had gotten out of hand.

There were so many stories, none of which seemed like the correct one. Plenty of students had seen Romeo run from Wammy's, the scratches on his face proof of what he had done. With those who had seen the scratches, a rape was suggested, which of course was complete nonsense. It took a while for K to come around, and even once she was awake and had told them there had been no rape, the rumors still flitted about.

A lot of Beyond's kids believed it was K that had ignited the conflict, and this, to Eve, seemed more plausible. She was certainly the more volatile of the two, though Eve knew that Romeo had more to attack K about. In fact, it was only the fact that Romeo had walked away almost unscathed that had painted K as the victim, which obviously meant that more sympathized with her than with Romeo.

Eve waited until everyone else was in the main hall discussing the day's shocking event to visit the person that probably already knew about the attack. She slipped past the other students effortlessly, focused as they were on the major happening.

She knocked on the door and waited, rocking on her heels. When she heard the word, 'enter' she did so without hesitation. She said nothing at first, preferring to take a seat and get comfortable before she got to the reason she was there.

Finally, Beyond Birthday looked at Eve properly.

"You have done well," Beyond said calmly. "I never expected that the results produced would be this impressive."

"I only fed the hatred after he knew the truth," Eve muttered. She spoke without stammering on any of the words. "Anybody could have done what I did. He despised his brother's killer enough that when he knew who it was, nothing would have stopped him retaliating."

"You did gain his trust, Eve, and that was more than what we expected of you," Beyond smiled. "You made me proud. I hope you realize that."

"Flo did better than me."

"In her own way, yes, she did what you couldn't because of your age," Beyond admitted, "however, what you did was more effective. She made him want her; you made him trust you. Only to turn against him eventually… good girl, Eve. I imagine you will continue to be very useful."

"Can I go?" she asked.

"Go stir up rumors."

"What kind?"

"Any kind. Make them bigger, bolder… but place the blame entirely on K, or else others will keep flocking to her as a victim."

Eve nodded, then left the room.

* * *

_I saw 'Black Swan' today and it was just incredible. I used 'The Double' by Clint Mansell to write this chapter (from 'Black Swan's soundtrack). I bet you didn't see that coming._

**Preview**

"I'm not going back," she said with as much conviction as she could muster. "I am never going back."

_Who is 'she' speaking to? Who is 'she'? Two guesses for each question in each review._

_C._


	35. Beautiful Day

When K's eyes finally flickered open, she experienced a brief sense of déjà vu. At the side of her bed sat Slo again, holding onto her hand. His expression was so undeniably filled with concern that for a moment, she wondered if it were possible that somebody else had been hurt, and not her. With her free hand, she touched the part of her head that felt tight. There was a gauze pulled taut around her skull.

"Ouch," she said quietly. "That's going to leave a mark."

Slo leant forward and laughed once without humor.

"You have to be the stupidest smart person I know," he sighed. "Why did Romeo lose control like that?"

K looked down at their hands, intertwined. "He knew."

"About what?" Slo frowned.

"Hamlet," she murmured. "He knew all of it. Slo, what if he tells someone-?"

"Ssh," he said comfortingly. "It's okay. We'll make it okay. I'll go ask if they can make sure you don't have any visitors. There are loads of rumors going around and someone's bound to ask you questions before we've even planned what we'll say."

"Thanks," she mumbled.

He got up and kissed her on the forehead before he left. Exhausted, she leant back against her pillows and thought about what she was going to do. She was still technically the owner of Koneko's notebook, meaning if she wanted to, she could become Kira again. She could finish what her father started, the way she'd always promised herself she would. Except…

Now she couldn't.

The Death Note had taken so much out of her, had drained her of so many emotions, taking advantage of her hatred and emptiness so that she turned against the world. She didn't want to end up like her father, or her mother. Of course, she wondered what life would have been like if her parents had survived the Kira case and stayed together.

"I'm not going back," she said with as much conviction as she could muster. "I am never going back."

"Going back?" L asked, entering the room quietly. "Well, we'll work that out. Your room's a bit of a mess, to say the least. You can stay in the infirmary until we have the place tidied up. The mirror has been removed."

"Good," K murmured. "I don't want to see myself."

"You have a bandage around your head and all you can think of is how you look?" L sighed. "How very _female _of you."

_Go on_, the voice in her head urged. _Tell him. Tell him the truth, and he'll make it all right again_.

"I know," she found herself saying. "Hanging around with Nancy must have rubbed off on me a little bit."

_Why won't you say it?_

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," he said quickly. His tone softened. "You can tell me why Romeo attacked you, K. I won't judge you. I won't stop being your uncle if it's partially your fault."

"I didn't do anything," she insisted. "I don't know… he lost it… he…" She settled on telling a little bit of the truth. "He knew about Hamlet."

L watched his niece, wide-eyed. There was something bugging her, and he knew it, mostly because she was doing exactly what her mother had done. She would pretend to know as little about what had happened as possible. It was the same when Rin had been raped, and he saw it shine through with K even more, because now he knew the things he should look out for. Yet what could he do about it? There was so much he wanted to say.

Finally, he nodded and stood, bidding K farewell and promising to sort out a story with her some other time, when she was more recovered. He left the room with his heart just as heavy as when he had entered.

On his way out, he bumped into a certain someone he hadn't expected.

"What do you want?" L snapped. "Going to interrogate her? She doesn't want to see you, Sky. She doesn't want to see anyone."

"I was the one who found her," Sky told him sharply. "I wanted to see if she's all right."

"She's fine, and she doesn't need any assistance from someone like you," L responded with a tone even colder than the teenage boy's. "She is the only family I have left. I would like to preserve her happiness, and somehow I don't think you speaking to her as much as you do is good for her at all."

L swerved past Sky, only to hear his voice dark and warning.

"You still think it's my fault she jumped off that scaffolding, don't you?" he said.

L looked at him over his shoulder. "I don't like to think of that," he answered. "K is alive now, and that is what matters. That is also what should matter to you. When she is ready to speak to people about the event, she will. If you try asking her any questions that she isn't ready for, you can be assured I will be the one you answer to."

Sky watched for a moment as L walked down the hall in the direction of Roger's office. He went back to stand outside K's door, wondering if he should actually go in. In a lot of cases, his included, when something had happened, people wanted to be left alone in order to contemplate their next steps. He went to push on the wood of the door and felt the hinges move. As he did so, his hand stopped. He let his hand fall to his side in a fist.

When he lifted his head, he saw M standing there, watching him with piqued interest – never usually a good sign. For a moment, her expression was somewhat indecisive, and then her lips curved up at the corners in what could only be described as a smirk. He took a few steps towards her, meaning to duck past her and avoid the upcoming interrogation. However, it was not going to be that easy.

"Now, now, Sky," she murmured, "what are you up to?"

"It's called spying," he said. "Just like Beyond asked me to do."

"Obviously," she said in a tone that meant she really did not believe him. "Spying… being a good, obedient protégé, the serial killer you're actually meant to be, the one you were _chosen _to be." She punched his shoulder forcefully. "Why couldn't you just let her die? You could have gotten the first-in-line for L out of the way, and yet you decided it would be best _not _to."

Sky said nothing, folding his arms. This tiny gesture of indignation sparked something new in M.

"Or maybe you didn't _decide _anything? You hesitated? You just went ahead and helped her with no prompting?" she hissed. "This is _not _what you were brought here for, Sky! What will Beyond say when he finds out about this?"

Sky's expression betrayed nothing.

"Are you _angry _with me?" she growled quietly. "Are you angry about what we're making you do?"

"Is there a problem?" a voice asked. Both were a little startled to see Mello standing there. However, M was not surprised when she noticed Mello's hand drift cautiously to the holster on his hip.

M was the first to move. "No, of course not. Sky and I were just having a discussion."

"Mm?" Mello arched an eyebrow.

Sky shook his head, frustrated, and shoved past both M and Mello.

"Kids," M forced a laugh. "They get so emotional, don't they?"

**XXX**

C pressed her back up against the door, hoping that she could erase what had occurred only thirty seconds before. All of the security she'd been working for, all the secrecy and deception, gone down the pan because of one silly little mistake, one tiny error. She should have been more observant, more aware of who was in the room at the same time as her, but she let down her guard for only a few seconds and she'd screwed up, big time.

Still, she couldn't have kept the secret long-term. The wrong people would have found out anyway.

There was a tentative knock on the door.

"Go away!" she gasped. "Leave me alone!"

"C, it's me!" She recognized L's voice. "Let me in!"

Not ready to be fooled, since she knew B could impersonate L with as much accuracy as anyone. She peered through the peephole and saw dark eyes, and not red, looking back at her. Sighing in relief, she opened the door and hugged him. He seemed stunned by her sudden affection after how careful she'd been to put distance between them after they'd gotten back from the United States. He rubbed her back in comfort, responding to the situation quickly.

"Ssh," he said, "it's okay. I'm here. I'm right here. What happened?"

"It's B," she whispered. "He saw… I… I just didn't get out of there quickly enough."

It was about thirty seconds before L could speak. His mind was busy registering what she was saying with how panicked she looked. She was very rarely this flustered by something. The penny dropped.

"Beyond saw you," he breathed.

Wordlessly, she nodded.

"Your name," he pressed. "Did he only look at your face?"

"I don't know. I saw him and I just got out of there as fast as I could without looking too suspicious."

"I'm sorry," he said. "This is all my fault. I should have been keeping an eye on you too, but I was sidetracked by Romeo's attack…"

"Don't take everything on yourself," C said firmly. "We just need to think about this."

L nodded. Together they went to sit down after closing the door. There was a lot that needed to be said. Suddenly C remembered the promise she had made herself about what she would tell L when they next got time to be alone. Now was that time. She reached across to hold onto her husband's hand or else she was worried he would get up and storm out.

"C?"

"L, there's something you really need to know," she admitted. She was steeling herself to do it now. "It's quite important."

"Is this about the case?" L asked. "Because I think that right now, we should get our priorities into order. The case can wait for a while. It's not an immediate danger. Kanaan should be here someday soon with information and we can-"

"No. This is pretty high up on the priorities list," she said. Her voice was a bit strangled. "I want you to promise me you're not going to freak out."

"I won't freak out." He sounded concerned.

"L, I have to tell you. I… I'm-"

"What's going on here, huh?" The door had swung open to reveal M standing there, chilled. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No," both said, standing.

"Doesn't look like that to me," M commented jokily. "Nah, kidding. Come on, you two. The air is weighted with atmosphere and I need a laugh or someone's gonna die." C's eyes widened. "That was a joke, C. Christ, what is _wrong _with you today?"

"Should we go down to the staff room?" C suggested. "I know that Matt's been dying to have someone to play COD with for ages. He told me so when we got back. You've been neglecting him, M, poor boy."

"I have been evading him in case of an emotional 'you left me' scene," M shrugged. "I don't like the sentimental bullshit, so I stay out of the way? Capische?"

At this, C couldn't help smiling. "That is so you."

M frowned. "Of course it is. Who else would it be? So… COD. Do I get to play against you?"

"No," C said bluntly.

"Why not?"

"Because I suck at COD."

"That's why I want to play against you."

"No."

"Please-?"

The next thing they knew, Beyond was pushing past M. He gaped at the space above C's head, breathless, and began to smirk. A chill ran down C's spine and although L knew it wouldn't make anything better, he put himself between her and Beyond. M looked affronted at not being told what was going on, yet could figure out a fair amount of it by herself with L's movement. There was a glint of anger in his eyes that would come through a desire for the protection of another, and that would derive from one particular emotion.

"Someone's in trouble," Beyond chuckled.

"So that's the way it is, huh?" M muttered. "I should have known."

"I won't touch her, Lawliet," Beyond smiled. "You seem to have done that enough already."

"I don't like _not being told_," M snarled, her fury beginning to boil. "Both of you. Sit. It would be rude of me to not let you take a seat while you tell us everything."

* * *

_Okay, ouch. I am SO SORRY for not updating sooner. Unfortunately, I had a bit of writer's block earlier on in the chapter, and then was caught up in writing a Harry Potter parody script for my friends and myself. The performing won't be for a while yet, which is kind of annoying, but it should be awesome when it's on. Even M is getting involved as Ginny! Thank you for being so endlessly patient. You all rock._

**Preview**

"Who are you?" Callie asked.

"It doesn't matter, blondie. Point me to L and C."

_Who is it that's turned up? Three guesses in each review._

_C._


	36. I Dreamed A Dream

Romeo glanced around at those who were moving around Winchester like sheep, heads down and ignoring the bigger picture of reality. They didn't understand that among them sat one who could have killed another human being, one whose brother was murdered by the Fifth Kira. They didn't know that the Fifth Kira, the person anyone could have dismissed in a café or on a train was still alive, well and _free_.

He put down his cup of coffee and buried his head in one hand. After about fifteen minutes trying to plan out his route to Gatwick Airport, something slightly odd caught his eye.

In the ancient city of Winchester, which had once been England's capital city during Arthurian times, the authenticity and rusticity of the town was paramount. So how was it that driving down one of Britain's oldest streets was a gleaming black model of the latest Range Rover, windows tinted black? Was it also a coincidence that it was heading in the same direction that he, Romeo, had just come?

"Fuck," he muttered, slamming a five-pound note on the table and tucking the folded-up railway map into his jacket pocket. As he left, he gained very few curious looks, despite the urgency with which he moved.

Just sheep, heads down, never noticing.

**XXX**

Callie had promised herself she would never encroach on another's privacy any more than she already did unintentionally, yet this particular person intrigued her more than any normal person did. Without a word, she pulled the ladder down to the attic and climbed up it, tugging the trapdoor up behind her so no one else could get inside without her noticing.

The attic hadn't been used for years, considering whose room it used to be. The walls were bleak grey, some of the wallpaper faded yet still pasted there. She stood carefully and pressed a palm to the walls. The floorboards were a little more flaky than they had previously been, although they were still strong enough to walk on.

Seeing her hand against the wall, she realized how the open window cast a pale light over everything. It was as if a veil had been pulled over the furniture once possessed by the recently deceased, when the next of kin decided what to do with the remaining items. Her own skin, fair enough as it was, appeared ghostly white. Her hair seemed white-gold, the room around her almost surreal. She felt like she was living in another's memory.

The person whose room it had been before was dead here, yet very much alive beyond those walls. Callie took a few steps further into the room, seeing white sheets draped over the bed, closet, chest of drawers, bookcase and 'treasure' box. She grabbed the edge of the sheet and pulled sharply, removing it. At the scene before her, she could not help but laugh a little. The imprint of the bed's sleeper was pressed into the mattress.

She noticed an envelope sticking out from under the pillow and took it, running her thumb under the seal. It gave her a paper cut, but it didn't stop her. She sucked on the cut as she studied the picture. She found herself having to sit down.

On a piece of crinkled paper, a young Wammy's child had drawn three stick people, one walking away, one standing in the middle of the page with a sad face and two red dots of eyes and one pointing at the red-eyed stick boy with an angry expression. The red-eyed boy had been given devil horns and a spiky red tail. They had been labeled too; the angry boy had, 'me' written beneath him, and the one walking away had, 'L'. One final label beneath the red-eyed boy read, 'u'. Below all of this, in rough black CD marker was scrawled, 'to remind u, u freak'.

The drawing could only have been done by very young children, and it began to click in her mind. This had been drawn for Beyond by A, Alternative. It could only be A, since there were only two others besides the child that was Beyond in the picture, and at a time where there were no others besides L, A and B in the orphanage, it made sense.

Seeing how cruel children could be, Callie fought back tears. If this was how he had been ostracized as only a little boy, it was no wonder that Beyond had decided to go against the establishment, and the drawing may even have been responsible for fueling some of Beyond's hatred for L. If L was walking away, if only in the drawing of a small, contemptuous child, A was giving Beyond the impression that he did not care. Maybe L had cared before, then given up when the current serial killer came to be exactly that.

She examined the paper one more time, and then proceeded to rip the offending thing into shreds. The remainders of it fluttered to the ground like confetti. Despite the fact she knew it changed nothing, she felt like she was tearing apart all of Beyond's unhappiness and insecurities. For some unknown reason, she felt better than she had in a long time.

"Still human," she sighed, wiping away one solitary tear, "even with the eyes."

She began to make her way downstairs when she heard a buzzing. She recognized the sound; it was usually emitted from Roger's office, and it meant someone was entering through the gates with a temporary entry ID card. She glanced above the desk towards the CCTV cameras and hurried along to the main hall of the oldest building at Wammy's.

First entered a dark-haired woman with distinctly European-looking features. She strutted her way to the stairs and gave Callie a glance that evidently translated as disgust.

"Who are you?" Callie asked.

"It doesn't matter, blondie. Point me to L and C."

"I'm sorry," Callie responded coldly, her voice becoming firm and official-sounding. "I don't think I can give you that information. That just doesn't sit well with me, especially considering one of our students was attacked recently."

"Which one?" the woman sneered.

"I am not going to tell you," the blonde answered. "Back off."

Another man, taller than the dark-haired woman, and with long silvery-blonde hair himself, joined the two. Callie regarded both of them with caution.

"Now, now, Irina," the man scolded. "Calm down. I do apologize, Miss, she has quite a hot temper when she is in a hurry. My name is Flint; this is Irina. Outside are our associates: Ludo, Bess and Jenna-"

"Jenna?" Callie repeated, startled. "Jenna's here?"

"She is," Flint agreed. "She said someone would recognize her name." He looked around, a smile beginning to form on his face. "How odd. It's just the way I remember it."

"Second generation?" Callie suggested.

"First," Flint and Irina said together. Then Flint spoke on his own. "You?"

"Third," she admitted. "Early third, late second."

"And this lot?" Irina piped up.

"I think they're fifth," Callie told her. "So why do you want L and C? I heard Jenna was working on the California case, but-"

"We found something, and we didn't want to explain it over the phone or by email," Flint confessed. "We can wait for them if they are a bit preoccupied."

There was a gunshot, and the three of them froze.

**XXX**

Sky heard the gunshot from where he was sitting in the library. Suddenly, he found himself leaping to his feet and running full pelt to where he had heard the shot coming from. He hesitated on the landing, knowing it was from C's room, where he had seen L heading before, and made a snap decision. He slid down the stairs quickly, dodging past Flint, Irina and Callie. His brain barely had time to register that it was out of the ordinary for the first generation Wammy's kids to be there. All he was focused on was reaching the infirmary.

He barged past Nurse Fearne, ignoring her complaints completely. K was unconscious, probably a little high on morphine. Still, she had the right to know if her uncle was in potential danger, and she had the right to know if she could help. He shook her arm, squeezing her wrist. "Wake up!" he shouted. "K, wake up! Come on!"

"Mr. Saxon, get out of my infirmary _right now_!" Nurse Fearne commanded.

"K, L's in trouble! Wake _up_, you stupid cow!"

"Son of a bitch," she murmured, still in a drug-induced haze. Her eyes lifted open slowly and drank in the scene before her. She barely paid attention to the frantic and furious nurse, instead processing Sky's words. This snapped her into a slightly more coherent state.

With Sky's assistance, she swung her legs out of bed, got to her feet and directed herself towards the scene of the gunshot. The more she began to walk around, the better her motor controls became, and the more vivid her grasp of reality became. By the time they had reached the landing, she was relying more on her own strength than on Sky's.

Having finally gotten to C's room, the two saw a great number in the space. L and C sat together, as did Nancy and Damnation, and Rebel and Slo. M was sitting on C's bed, a smirk on her face. Seeing Sky and K, she gestured for the two to take a seat also. Sky noted that behind him, on a banister, there was a bullet hole, explaining the gunshot. Slo jumped up to help K sit down beside him.

"Aw, isn't that nice?" M simpered falsely. "This means the whole team's together to hear all the secrets that have been kept. Let's call this the Circle of Honesty, shall we? C, why don't you start? It's pretty obvious that you've tied the knot in my absence, and you didn't tell me. Boo. I don't like lying in my Circle of Honesty."

The expression was written all over C's face: _oh shit_.

Realization hit Slo like a speeding truck. There were secrets C have confided in him, and in an interrogation, he was the one who was more likely to surrender. Before he had time to control his face, his eyes widened. They flickered to C and back to M, unaware M had been watching him.

"Got something to say, Slo?" she asked. "Nothing?"

"No, nothing," he said quickly.

"For number two, you are a very bad liar," M shrugged. "Ah, well. Maybe L can tell us."

"I don't know what you're talking about," L replied.

"You know, I think you really don't have anything more to say," M said, surprised. "At least that means I don't have to hear your voice anymore." She leant forward, looking closer at C's eyes. They were only moist enough to be misty, but it was enough for M. "You always were one for secrets, C. It's a wonder anyone can trust you. You keep them so internalized, and then it's too late. It just causes trouble."

C evaded M's eyes, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. She felt everyone's gazes upon her, now self-conscious. She allowed herself one peek at L's face. He was frowning slightly, as if puzzled and slightly hurt. Her own face was drained of color. She knew that she should have told him earlier, should have told him the truth as soon as she had found out…

None of them had really paid Beyond any attention, rootling through C's coat pockets as he was. He was quiet, and the only things C could recall putting in the pockets were the keys to her Yamaha, and a coupon to a restaurant from Las Vegas. She had forgotten something vital. Now, as Beyond took out these photographs and deduced what they were, he felt his stomach drop into the soles of his feet.

He took a few steps towards L and tapped him on the shoulder. M scowled, trying to see what was going on. L snatched the images from him and froze. C recognized them immediately and stood.

"I think _this _is the problem," Beyond murmured.

"It's a – a-"

"A sonogram," C mumbled.

M's jaw dropped almost to the floor. "Okay, rewind. A _sonogram_? As in, something you get done when you're _pregnant_?"

"A sonogram, as in an image you have checked when you're pregnant and expecting twins," C corrected her, voice hushed.

There was no denying that at this exact moment in time, one of the most intelligent men in the world, a man who had dealt with murderers, rapists, paedophiles, conmen and gangsters, was terrified into silence. The great detective L looked like he was about to pass out.

* * *

_Oh, man, the secret's out. Or at least one of them._

**Preview**

"This right here is what we've got," Jenna said.

Irina said nothing. Her eyes flickered to the clock.

_What's going to happen next? You have three guesses!_

_C._


	37. Slow Movement

"You didn't tell me," he choked out. "You didn't… why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry… I didn't mean to… I didn't think about-"

"Well, that much is obvious," he said coldly. With that, he stood and moved away from her, towards the door. Her shoulders evidently slumped, as if he'd just slapped her. She just didn't have the strength for it anymore. She bowed her head so that her hair masked her face. M looked infuriated, both at being lied to and L being so quick to abandon her friend.

Another gunshot rang out, making Nancy jump, and a little smoke protruded from the hot bullet hole in the wall by L's torso. His head snapped back around so he could face her. His expression echoed a thunderstorm, which helped prompt him to stomp towards her and knock the gun from her hand. She was so surprised by his sudden anger that she did not retaliate.

"Stop it," he growled. "Stop thinking you can control everyone!"

"I _can_!" she barked. "That's what you've never been observant enough to realize! Every single one of these kids we brought with us was designed to bring you _down_! To bring down your successors the only way we could – _emotion_!"

The Wammy's kids in the room froze. Slo stayed sitting, his mind working through what M had just said. Rebel could only stare at him, awaiting his reaction. Damnation stood up, launching himself away from Nancy, who began to cry, trying to hold onto him. Damnation didn't look upset; his heart only left room for anger. She begged him to listen to her, to hear her out, that things had changed, that she really meant what she felt for him.

"You _used _me," he snapped, "like you would use anyone else. You… you _bitch_."

"Please," she sobbed. "Damnation, please, I promise you-"

"Your promises don't mean shit," he said through clenched teeth. "Not to me… not to anyone." He turned his back on her.

K stood up shakily, her face expressionless for the most part. They had not changed her clothes after her attack, fearing they might jar her wound, and blood that had been spilling from her injury spattered her clothes. She laughed a little without humor, her face still unchanged. She ran her fingers through her hair and staggered for the door.

"K, stop," Sky murmured. "You're not well."

"I am… so sick…" she said quietly. "I am so sick… of _you_." She spat the last word out as though it tasted bitter as blood to her. With a disgusted expression, she faced him. "You _fuck _with people's heads, and then you… you act like you fucking _care_."

"K-" He reached to support her, and she clawed at his skin.

"_Don't touch me_!" she shrieked. Her palms were clutching other side of her head, her fingertips curving around the edge of the gauze. Her breaths coming in short little gasps, she yanked sharply on the bandage, tearing it away from her skull. Her voice became a whisper. "Don't… touch me."

Slo finally looked up at her, seeing how pale and broken and enraged she truly was.

"It's people like you," she said in a low voice, "that made me Kira."

She appeared drained of energy, and staggered forward. Sky put his arms out to catch her, placing a hand behind her head and holding onto her waist. She did not have enough strength to push him away this time. Her lips found his ear, and in a breath, she managed to whisper:

"Congratulations. You broke me. You won."

"K," Damnation gasped, going to take her from Sky. Sky glared at him, yet still let her go. "It's okay… it'll be all right. We're here. Me and Slo, we're here."

"Oh," M said, startled. She smirked at Sky. He glowered back. "Sky, is there something you want to tell me?"

His fists were clenched.

"Well, look at that," she sneered. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce James Blue, first-in-line to become one of the greatest murderers in history, and Keira Yagami-Lawliet, first-in-line to become one of the greatest detectives in history. If ever there were a pair of more star-cross'd lovers, let them speak now or forever hold their peace. Forbidden love, is it, Sky-?"

"She doesn't love him," Slo insisted. "She never did."

"She doesn't love you, either," M interjected coolly. "And she never did. Not even as a brother, I don't think, so don't get your hopes up."

C finally got to her feet. "That's enough now, M. Let us go."

"We haven't finished our Circle of Honesty, C!" M said firmly. "We haven't quite rounded everything off yet. Is there anything else anyone wished to share? I'm all ears, believe me."

"M, let it go," C responded.

"I'm leaving," L said sharply.

Beyond stepped in front of him. "You leave when we say you can leave."

"I am not in the mood to have to deal with you, Beyond," L snarled. "Get out of my way."

"I _don't think so_."

The two men were squaring up to one another, meaning C stepped between them, pushing them apart. Her expression was furious.

"Can you just _not fight_?" she yelled. "Jesus fucking _Christ_!" She growled in frustration. "You shouldn't hate each other! You are so fucking alike, and you are both so… _ignorant_!"

"Excuse me?" L hissed.

"L, I have been pregnant for about nine fucking weeks now, and you haven't even noticed. B never noticed how I was never in the same room as him when he came back, say for at the airport, and he was distracted then! Neither of you, when people said you looked similar, or even got you confused for one another, even _contemplated _the fact there might be a biological reason for your appearances!" she shouted.

"C-"

"You're _brothers_! Bloody hell!" she barked. She exhaled in a sound like a _whoosh_. "I'm not even upset or anything anymore, I'm just so pissed! You two are the fucking stupidest people!"

"Brothers," gasped L.

"Rin was Beyond's twin sister," C breathed. She looked at Beyond. "L is your big brother."

Beyond and L stared at one another for a long time. The man each of them had hated for so long, and both had feared for just as long, was bound to them by blood. L frowned, loathing that he would have to connect himself to Beyond in that way, whilst Beyond suddenly snapped into the facial expression of a man who had just witnessed a car accident. His mouth became dry.

"That means…" he choked out. "That means… Rin… and I…"

"You and Rin _what_?" L growled.

**XXX**

They all heard the second gunshot. Callie led the visitors through to the conference room where they could convene, and asked them to place their work on the table. She took a file concerning the California case from a filing cabinet, dropping on the polished wood and feeling her stomach lurch as she heard a throaty scream of a warning, a warning that someone should not touch.

She had seen Slo run into the room with Rebel, Nancy and Damnation, seen Sky lift K up the stairs to get to their destination. Yet somehow, it was not the thought that they were in trouble that made her feel sick. With the gunshot, she saw a flash of the drawing that had been done by Alternative – the one that portrayed a boy with red eyes, a boy with devil horns. Her chest began to ache.

She sat down with the group, studying them each in turn in order to distract herself from the horror of what was going on upstairs. She recognized Bess from one of the group photos of the first generation (it was hard not to with her bright bubblegum-pink hair), and Ludo, the sandy-haired man with the circular spectacles, who had stood next to her. Irina, the dark-haired woman, had remained quiet for the most part after being so rude to Callie before, whereas Flint had loosened up and begun conversing with the blonde quite casually.

The only one from the arrivals that appeared concerned by the gunshots was Jenna. She too had heard the scream, that had sounded so heart-wrenchingly painful it made her wonder what on earth the person that had been screamed at had done to cause it.

"So what was it that you wanted to share with L and C?" Callie asked, diverting conversation from upstairs. "You guys look like you've been working really hard considering all of this paperwork."

"They did most of it and emailed it to us through an über-secure network," Bess told her. "I think Matt fixed it up, but Irina keeps saying that she did it. Ah, well. It's all officially here on the lab results, on page twenty-four…" She rifled through the paperwork, all numbered, logged and categorized, and finally reached the desired page. She handed it to Callie.

"Can you fill me in on this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm afraid it looks like a whole jumble of names to me. I haven't been informed of any expected data."

"How are you in Wammy's?" Irina said coldly.

"I see relationships, though that's none of your business really, and if you give a damn about what Wammy's is and what it stands for you'll shut up and let us work," Callie snapped.

Irina had never been spoken to like that before, and never had her loyalty questioned. It was like a slap in the face, and it made Callie shoot up in her estimations. Nobody ever made her feel guilty.

"This right here is what we've got," Jenna said.

Irina said nothing. Her eyes flickered to the clock. She just wanted to leave now she was there.

"This here is a list of schools," Jenna explained. "It's a list of schools in California that stock radioactive equipment, or deal with radioactive substances. When the kids are in about freshman year, they learn about the three different times of radiation: alpha, beta, gamma. Alpha doesn't penetrate paper, but it causes the most damage if inside the body. Beta can't get through aluminium, but the effects are still pretty bad. Gamma is usually stopped by thick lead, but it's the least ionising."

"Okay, so the names at the top stock all three substances, the names in the middle stock two, and the names at the bottom stock one," Callie deduced. "Why do we have this list?"

"Deanne Hounsfield, killed by a poisoned apple," Ludo interjected. "The apple was made radioactive."

"With what?"

"Polonium-210."

"Like that Russian ex-spy guy…" Callie recalled.

"Alexander Litvinenko," Flint filled in.

"Polonium-210 is an alpha emitter," Jenna added. "A few bites of that and your condition will gradually deteriorate. A large quantity of radiation in a small concentrated area and you could be dead within a day. If Deanne Hounsfield ate the entire apple, not counting the core, then she wouldn't have had a chance. But she must have taken the apple from someone she knew, someone she trusted."

"So you-"

"We got a positive hit on a school in Los Angeles. I was contacted by the principal and she said it was the school Deanne Hounsfield had been to, before she started bunking off. She said she always thought it was a child rapist that had gotten to her or something, someone that had been watching her when she playing truant, and for a little while we wondered if she was right. Deanne Hounsfield seemed like the type who would have gone off with any man that would make her feel good." Jenna sighed. "We looked, and then we got it. It must have been a guy _inside _school, who saw her everyday."

"A cool teacher," Bess said.

"A young one," Ludo agreed. "One that made her laugh, made her smile."

"Our killer must have been in Los Angeles a decent amount of time," Callie gasped. "To be a teacher, or a janitor or someone like that."

"A real 'people' person," Jenna confirmed.

"So the killer stole the radioactive substance from Deanne's school, and then he prepared just the right weapon for her," Callie said. "The only question now is… who was it that killed Deanne Hounsfield, and all those other people?"

"No, one more," Flint said. "There's one more story to finish. The _real _question is, 'who's next'?"

* * *

_I can't believe I'm up to chapter 37. Damn, I didn't think I'd get this far. Thank you, guys, for being patient enough to read this stupid thing._

**Preview**

Athena turned around to see Romeo standing behind her. He was frowning, yet that was wiped away when he saw her expression.

"What's happened?"

_What's happened, indeed? What do you think? Three guesses in each review maximum!_

_C._


	38. I Think Of You All The Time

Athena was the first one to see K as she staggered out from C's room. She was supported by Damnation, who appeared more than a little panicky about the state of his friend, particularly now she had removed her bandage. Athena stared, partially shocked by the glower that Damnation gave her. He helped lift K down the stairs and shook his head.

"What are you doing just gawking?" he snapped. "Help me get her back to the infirmary!"

"No," K whispered. "No, to my room… let me go back to my room…"

"If we let you go, you'll just get worse," Damnation said. "You have to trust me. I'm the annoying little brother, remember?"

"Annoying, hell yes," she murmured.

"I have an idea," he exclaimed. He rested her on the stairs. "Right. Stay here."

"Are you kidding…?" she breathed. "I was just going to wander off all over the place."

"I think you sound better," he grinned. He scampered off and returned with a glass of water and three caplets. He held the glass as she put the pills on her tongue and then handed it to her so she could swallow it down more easily. "Give it a few minutes; you'll have a fair amount more energy than you have now."

She pressed a hand to the side of her forehead, where the mirror shards had cut her. "Shit," she hissed. "Damnation, what _were _those?"

"One was a hydration capsule, one was a caffeine tablet and the other was vitamin C," he shrugged. "Hydration levels need to be high, and I figured you needed quick energy, so I got you a caffeine tablet to go with it. I've always to try one, how does it taste-?"

"Why a vitamin C tablet…?" she asked disbelievingly.

"I dunno," he admitted. "I just thought you were always supposed to take a vitamin C tablet at some point if you were sick, and-" He paused. "Are you crying? Oh shit, I didn't mean to make you cry, sorry-"

"I'm not crying," she said, shaking a little. "I'm… I'm laughing. Damnation, you're so funny… thank you."

A few minutes later, and once she looked like she was feeling better, he let her walk without support to her own room, which had been cleaned up. She hugged him before she closed the door, and then she froze, processing what she'd decided to do. Finally plucking up the courage, she slipped an arm under her bed and managed to grab hold of a small black book. She pressed it to her heart once, then picked up a pen from her desk, leaving the room.

She walked like a zombie through the corridors, down the stairs and into the main hall, where Athena had been reading a book called, 'Timewaster Letters'. She looked up to see K stepping calmly out into the spring scenery. Clouds were scattered across the sky, and although it had been forecasted that it would rain later that day, the sun was still out. The breeze tugged gently at K's blood-spattered clothes. It was just the sort of conditions one would want on the day of their death.

She couldn't move when she saw the Death Note. It just made all manner of protest absolutely impossible. She looked up at the top of the staircase, hoping to spy someone that would have more strength in order to stop the teenage girl from doing something stupid.

Athena turned around to see Romeo standing behind her. He was frowning, yet that was wiped away when he saw her expression.

"What's happened?"

**XXX**

The investigators' musings were interrupted by the sudden entrance of Beyond. Callie found herself standing upright, pushing her chair back and startling the others with the sound. His eyes widened slightly. She cleared her throat and headed in the direction of the door, not wanting to embarrass herself any further than she evidently already had. B touched her shoulder and she stopped, evading his eyes.

"L's my brother," he whispered. "Did you know that?"

She put a hand over his. "I do now," she responded, brushing past him.

L followed B into the conference room. He had the sort of look on his face that said he was trying to remain extraordinarily professional. It was the most normal he had acted for a while. C joined them about ten minutes later, after L had been filled in on the latest developments. They seemed pleased with the progress of the case, despite the constant chaos that had surrounded it. It seemed that everyone fell into the pattern of the puzzle-solving rather quickly and by the time fifteen further minutes had passed, they felt they were comfortable with who the killer was – a man who had worked both at Deanne Hounsfield's school in Los Angeles and the company of Ella Dockery's father. Similar names had shown up.

"Derek Cleinberg," L said, "and then Daniel Klein. They are much too similar, in such dangerous circumstances, and so…" His lips twitched upwards at the corners. "They must be one and the same person, using an alias across the state in order to achieve the thrill of killing after a destructive childhood."

"Give me a minute," replied Irina, typing rapidly into her laptop.

"We're nearly there," Bess squeaked. "We're so close I can almost taste it."

"Got it!" Irina called. "Daniel Klein, with a history of child abuse. He was brought up by his adoptive parents, Rico and Maria Cortez, and-"

"Maria Cortez?" Jenna interjected. "The first victim in Sausalito?"

"If Daniel Klein was her adopted son, that would explain the reaction of the locals. They would have seen him grow up, maybe want to protect their own, or even worse, be scared of him knowing how he was. None of them admitted to seeing anything, and none were exactly enthusiastic to share information, even if it was with their own town's police force," C put in.

"Can we try and get some photographs of Daniel Klein?" Ludo asked. "Driver's license, passport photo, CCTV footage from him just walking around the streets, class photos, photos taken for work, Facebook, dating websites – anything!"

"Okay, Ludo," Irina said coldly, "you try hacking into the FBI's database and see how that fucking goes, okay?"

"You're going to the FBI database?" L sighed. "Pass me your laptop. I can just sign in for full authorized access… should save a lot of time."

"Backup, are you just going to stand there?" Irina smirked.

"You have a very pretty face, Irina," he said. "Maybe I should cut it off and wear it, Hannibal Lecter style."

"Ugh, you always were such a freak," she spat.

L didn't want to, yet did, notice the way the word, 'freak' made Beyond flinch. He was all too familiar with the derogatory term for one who was not accustomed to the conventions of everyday normality. He was about eighty percent certain that was most people's reaction to the first time seeing him, judging by facial expressions and indiscreet whispers that were meant to be behind his back.

Yes, they were undoubtedly brothers.

**XXX**

K leant up against the tree by Hamlet's grave, letting the breeze catch her hair and lift it away from her face. She was so ready now, so ready to let go. She rested a hand on Hamlet's tombstone and whispered a soft, heartfelt apology. She glanced up at the sky, seeing blue sky break through clouds, and she knew what she was doing was right, for her, and for everyone else.

As she picked up the pen she had brought with her, something caught her eye. Someone was walking up to the gates of Wammy's House. It was not an uncommon occurrence. People passed the orphanage all of the time, to reach other destinations – but not this person. This person did not pass. He stopped and looked up at the gates, and he went to touch the keypad on the pillar by the gate.

She did not get up until she saw the man walk right on through the gates, knowing the code required to pass. She scowled, rolled her eyes and scooped up the Death Note in her left hand.

"Sorry, Will," she muttered, "you'll have to wait."

**XXX**

"I'm sorry, L," Irina said, though she didn't sound sorry in the least. "Even with full access, I can't find any photographs of Daniel Klein. It's as if he's just disappeared into thin air after killing all of those people."

"Two more to go," Flint added.

"There has to be something on him," Bess mumbled. "No one just stops existing. No one uses an alias their entire life unless they have some kind of cause, and-"

"That's funny," Irina mumbled, frowning at the laptop screen.

"What is it?" C asked, going to stand behind her.

"There's no trace of Daniel Klein, or even Derek Cleinberg, until about 1999, or just around the beginning of the millennium," Irina answered. "Daniel Klein's birthdate on his CV is written officially as being in the year 1988. Why would there be no record of him until 2000? He must have gone to school, visited a doctor's clinic, had inoculations, all of it. He should be down with social services because of his adoption! So where _is _he?"

It surprised everyone when finally, Beyond spoke up with constructive input that did not involve making incredibly offensive cracks at Irina's expense. "Maybe Daniel Klein is another alias."

"An alias within an alias?" Flint suggested, awed. "That would take a lot of planning."

"It sounds like this guy is big on the planning," Beyond responded. "If he was born in 1988 but wasn't officially existing until 2000, then he had an awfully long time to plan."

"Shit," C muttered, "a double bluff. That only makes this guy harder to catch."

"I know, but we have the best team in the entire world," L said. "There is a ninety-five percent chance we will have seized the killer before the week is out."

"What is the name of the book that you found the fairytales in?" B enquired. "The book he is killing according to?"

"_Classic Tales for Children_," L replied. "It was found in room one, the dormitory of Slo and Romeo."

"Room one?" Beyond blinked.

"Yes, room one," L confirmed.

"You mean… you mean A's old room?" Beyond said.

**XXX**

Callie hit her head against the wall, feeling like an absolute idiot. When she turned around, she saw Romeo and Athena there, running up the stairs together, towards some common goal. She tried calling out to them, trying to capture their attention. She failed. A little embarrassed, and definitely puzzled, she decided to go back to the conference room to try to make herself less of a liability. Besides, she had a lot of questions for Beyond.

She stopped when she heard a familiar noise – the sound of the front door being opened. Her head whipped round to face whoever was standing behind her. A tall, dark-haired man with rather handsome features watched her, a cool smile on his face. He was wearing a suit, and under his arm were tucked a few files. He held out one hand in acknowledgement.

"I need to speak to Ryuzaki and Ana MacDermid as a matter of urgency," he told her in an American accent. "I have found the man they're looking for in the case concerning the California and Nevada deaths.

"Your name?" she said cautiously.

"I'm a mole for them in the States," he continued.

"Your _name_?" she pressed.

"Donny Kanaan," he answered calmly. At this, she visibly relaxed, having evidently heard the name before and been assured of its authority. She nodded to him, her smile becoming much more genuine. "Can you point me to Ryuzaki?"

"He's through there, in the conference room," she said, gesturing. "I'll go tell him that you're coming."

"There's really no need," Kanaan said smoothly. Her expression was confused for a second when he put a hand on her shoulder gently. Automatically, she found herself moving towards him. The next thing she knew, she felt a piercing in her stomach and she crumpled to the ground in pain, blood spilling between her fingers.

"What-?" she gasped. "No…"

"Thanks for the directions, by the way," he smirked. "I wouldn't be able to do this without you."

He set off towards Roger's office. Callie watched in pure horror as he walked away, a knife glittering with her blood in his hand. She heard more footsteps and saw a woman with brown hair standing before her. Her heart leapt in hope.

"Linda!" she breathed. "Linda, help me… please… help… Linda…"

The woman's eyes narrowed before she grinned the most heart-wrenching grin Callie had ever had the misfortune to see. Linda was beginning to become a blur to the blonde woman writhing on the floor.

"No," Linda said with an air of finality.

* * *

_Okay, how many of you actually saw that coming?_

**No preview will be given this chapter.**

_However, I'd still love to hear what you think will happen in the forthcoming chapters. It'll only get more unpredictable from here._

_What, you think I'd finish the series with an ending you can figure out?_

_C._


	39. Fallen Soldiers

"A's old room?" L repeated.

"Room one is A's old room," Beyond explained. "When A committed suicide, that's where he was found. He had hanged himself. He… he owned a fairytale book precisely like the one you're talking about. _Classic Tales for Children _was a limited edition printing from 1931. You really think there are that many copies in existence? You've been focusing on the deaths when you should have been focusing on the roots of the killer. If you figured out it was a list of murders from the contents-"

"You're saying the killer is someone specifically _from _Wammy's House?" Ludo suggested.

"Yes," Beyond confirmed. "That is _exactly _what I'm saying. I'm saying it's one of the first generation, which means it's either you, me, Irina, Bess, Flint, Jenna or Linda."

"Or A," C murmured.

"A is dead," Irina snapped. "You guys need to learn that not everyone fakes their deaths, or cheats death so easily. A tied a rope around his neck and kicked away a stool. He is dead."

"You really don't want this solved, do you, Irina?" Beyond said coldly.

"I am just eliminating impossibilities!" she insisted. "A being alive is an impossibility!"

"Not necessarily," L said. Everyone turned to look at him. He was sitting in his thinking position. His deduction skills were increased by up to forty percent. He was more logical than he had been for a long time. "We have only a witness's testimony for his death. None of us who sit here now saw his body. We only received reports. His funeral was a closed-casket ceremony."

"Still! There was a witness's testimony!" Irina pointed out.

"Whose testimony was it?" C asked quietly.

"What?" Irina hissed.

"I asked you who the witness was that gave the testimony that confirmed A's death," she elaborated in the same serene tone.

"It was…" Irina frowned, and it was obvious that she actually didn't know.

"Linda," L supplied. "It was Linda."

"_Linda _did something important?" Beyond commented, amazed. "You hear that? That's the sound of the apocalypse starting."

There was a crackle from the speakers that had been installed on the wall. C narrowed her eyes and glanced up at one of them. She heard a strange sound, a murmur that sounded like someone saying, 'testing, testing'.

"What the hell…?" she whispered.

"_Hello?"_ The voice that came from the speaker was familiar. They recognized it as Roger's. _"It's Roger here. Would L come to my office immediately?"_

"Give me a moment," L said. Beyond stood up. "What are you doing?"

"I'm coming with you," he responded. "Something about this doesn't feel right to me."

"You are to stay here with the others," L ordered. "Roger did not ask for you."

"L," C said firmly. "Beyond can go with you. Can't he?"

Mouth pressed into a straight line, L frowned at her before nodding. Beyond followed L out as he exited. Once the door was slammed shut, Jenna chuckled slightly, shaking her head in disbelief. She patted C's hand.

"You're an absolute magician. You've gotta teach me how to do that."

**XXX**

"Just because you are my brother does not mean I have to like you," L said as they entered the hall. "I hope you are not under any illusions that this changes anything a great deal."

"I'm not stupid, if that's what you mean," Beyond replied sharply. "I know you don't like me, and you're well aware of the fact that I don't like you, but that doesn't mean that you don't need me in a similar way to the way I need you." L stopped and turned to face him. "You are the only family I have left. Imagine for a moment what it is like to live your life with no one, and then find there is one person still connected to you." He recalled what Billie Jean had said to him. "If you had another chance to be with your family, if you had any family left, wouldn't you take advantage of it?"

"I…" L was stunned into silence. "What…?"

"I'm still human, L," he reminded him, "even with the eyes."

Suddenly, L froze with his gaze going off slightly past Beyond's shoulder. His eyes widened and he ran past his brother, having seen blonde hair fanned out over the mahogany floor. He recognized Callie Wood, also known as Rose Little, draped across the ground, skin white as milk, blood escaping a knife wound to her stomach. Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted.

"Callie!" he gasped.

Beyond saw her and became practically immobilized. "No," he said. "This can't be happening."

"Well, it is!" L shouted. "Snap out of it and help me!"

"Rose," he breathed. "Shit…"

"She has more of a chance if we move her to the infirmary _now_," L told him. "Come on. You can carry her if it makes you feel better."

Beyond took a deep breath, nodded and scooped her up into his arms. "Lead the way."

They moved towards the infirmary and heard footsteps. L stopped and turned. A man in a suit stepped out into the light, handsome face set into a relaxed smirk. He was swinging his arms, much like a child would if he were bored. It could have been anyone, just any psychopath, but it had to be _him_. It was him all along. He ran a hand through his dark hair and brown eyes that spoke of years of hatred gleamed at them in triumph.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he said coolly. He had an American accent, his voice deep. "Put her down."

"A," Beyond said. "Alternative."

"Hello, Backup," Kanaan – _Alternative _– replied slickly. "Now, let's put the young lady down and back away from her, shall we?"

"I don't think so," L said.

"Oh, for God's sake," Alternative sighed. "She's going to die anyway! Let's just permit her to die without being disturbed, shall we? Come along now, I haven't got all day."

"Let us put her in the infirmary," Beyond said icily. "Let us put her in the infirmary, where we can get her help, and then we'll go with you wherever you want."

"Ask me politely."

"_Please_, Alternative," Beyond hissed. "Please, let us take her to the infirmary."

Alternative nodded. "Very well. I will go with you." They walked solemnly and silently into the infirmary. "Place her on the bed." Beyond did so. "Now you come with me – both of you."

"Wait." Beyond went over to the bedside and leant down, kissing the pale, unconscious girl on the forehead. "Thank you."

Alternative rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Now are we done? Let's go."

They passed Nurse Fearne on the way out, who saw Beyond covered in blood and let out a horrified squeal, rushing into the infirmary in search of her latest patient. She may have been quite an irritating, talkative woman at times, but she knew what she was doing and her attitude in a case of extreme urgency was both professional and passionate. L and Beyond both knew Callie would receive the best care they could give her.

"Where are we going?" L asked in a monotone, appearing to be bored.

"We're going to a rooftop," Alternative said. "I knew Beyond always had a thing for a place with a view. It's why he chose that filthy attic room. Ready, gentlemen? We're going to have ourselves a little nostalgia trip."

**XXX**

C still felt uncomfortable. She didn't entirely trust that something wasn't going on; the atmosphere just didn't feel quite right. She still felt sick, like there was something in her throat that didn't want to get out. She thought of all of the complicated shit she'd tried to pull off, all of the stuff she knew she would never get away with. She considered how L would never fully trust her again, how betrayed and uncertain he would feel.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Jenna enquired. "You look kinda distracted. Is it… the other thing?"

"You can say it out loud now," C muttered. "Everyone might as well know. The person I never wanted to find out knows."

"Are you sure?" Jenna's expression was full of sympathy.

"What's going on?" Bess asked, eyes wide and innocent. She looked worried.

C smiled weakly at her pink-haired friend. "I'm pregnant, Bess."

Bess's jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding."

C shook her head.

"Oh my _God_!" she squeaked. "That's so cool! You do know the father, don't you? I mean, it's okay if you don't, I'm not gonna judge you-"

"I know the father," C chuckled wearily. "I know him very, very well. I think it would be strange if I didn't…" She rubbed her eyes. "It's L. He's the father."

The room went entirely silent. No one say for Flint or Jenna could really believe what had been said, seeing as it went against everything they knew solidly concerning the detective. Jenna glanced at the clock, frowning a little. She sighed and shook her head, returning to the photos of the victims she had been sifting through. She waited a few more minutes, then put the photos down on the table.

"This is ridiculous. What Roger's telling them couldn't possibly take this long," she pointed out. "This is just reckless abandonment now. Jesus Christ…"

Suddenly, the door to the conference room was slammed open with a _bang_. Mello and Matt stood before the group, looking out of breath and horrified. C immediately sat up. Matt had blood smeared down his front, and Mello had a gun in his hand, at the ready. She got to her feet.

"What's wrong?" she said.

"There's a man with a knife," Mello explained. "He's got L and Beyond. He stabbed Callie to get in here. He was under the guise of a spy for you and L."

C clapped a hand to her mouth, undoubtedly properly scared for the first time in a while. In a moment of reckless impulse, one man could make her lose everything, and suddenly, she knew who that man was. There was only one spy that they had used recently, and that was the man from California, Donny Kanaan. But what would Donny Kanaan want with L, or Beyond, for that matter?

It all began to connect in her head. Donny Kanaan had always been incredibly insistent that he meet L, therefore making L want to meet him less. He was always very careful never to meet who she knew was not Ryuzaki face to face. It was like he already knew L, knew how he operated and how he would react to the possibility of meeting an underworld mole.

Donny Kanaan was A – A, who had been seeking revenge for something since he faked his suicide, getting a witness testimony from Linda. Linda was a woman that anybody would believe, because nobody would expect her to have it in her, to be capable of anything beyond average. Anywhere else, she would have been revered for her artistic skill. At Wammy's, where it was commonplace, she was ignored as just being, 'that painter girl'. She was the perfect accomplice, because she would never in a million years be a suspect.

"Oh my God," C whispered, touching the palm of her hand to the side of her forehead, as if she had a bad headache. One moment it seemed like everything might be going well, and then the rug was snatched out from underneath her feet.

"It's okay, C," Matt comforted her. "We'll make it all right."

"If anyone tries to get too close, he'll kill them," she breathed. "Where are they now?"

"They… they went over to the dance studios," Mello said. "It's like they were heading directly there, for some reason."

"Mirrors…" C wondered. "Hard floor… no… flat roof. The dance studio is unique on this property. It's the only building here that has a flat roof, with a door and a set of stairs that lead to it. He's going to throw them off the roof and make it look like an accident." She started towards the door.

"C-"  
"Let me go, Mello," she said in a broken voice. "Please."

"I can't." He put a hand on her shoulder. "If I let you go, you're going to do something very stupid and very dangerous, which I don't want to happen. L and Beyond can handle themselves. You can't just think of sacrificing yourself anymore, C. You have two children to think of."

"I can't let him be up there on his own, with _two _people who don't mind him dying," she insisted. She hugged Mello for a second. She sighed. "Fine. Have it your way. I'm going to help Callie. She needs me too."

And with that, she left the room, brushing past Mello.

"You can't think that she's going to do what she said she's going to do," Matt murmured.

"Why not?" Mello asked.

"Check your pockets."

He did so. "Shit," he hissed.

"What is it?" Jenna mumbled.

"She took your gun when she hugged you," Matt informed him. "She's gone to help."

* * *

_Here we go; getting to the climax!_

_I'm shaking in my boots. Honest. Reviews make the chapter come quicker! This chapter's song was, 'Fallen Soldiers' by Audiomachine, and last chapter's was, 'I Think Of You All The Time' by Rachel Portman from the movie, 'The Duchess', which I highly recommend._

**No preview will be given this chapter.**

_C._


	40. Satine and Christian's Theme

When the men finally reached the rooftop of the dance studio, they found a dark-haired woman standing there waiting for them. Alternative smirked and went to stand by her, resting an arm around her shoulders – not as if it meant anything, merely because there was somebody _there_. Despite the obvious nonchalance with which Alternative completed the action, Linda was watching him like he was the most wonderful thing she had ever laid eyes on.

Beyond grimaced. "That is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen in my life."

"It is rather vile," L agreed.

"I mean, _come on_!" Beyond protested. "We're gonna die because of _Linda_? That is truly evil. You just beat my ass at evil, A, you really did. Death by Linda is seriously undignified. I'd rather be nibbled to death by fucking Chihuahuas."

"Indeed."

"A little more enthusiasm, please?" Beyond nudged L. "I thought that was a good fucking comparison! You just say, 'indeed' to it? Come _on_!"

"I thought, 'indeed' was all that was called for, Beyond," L responded calmly. "You are not quite as witty as you perceive yourself to be. However, I am agreed with you on the point I would rather be masticated to death by small dogs that resemble rodents than die at Linda's hand."

Beyond blinked. "Okay. I missed about three quarters of what you just said. Start again-"

"Stop it!" Alternative snapped. "You wish to joke when you're about to die?"

"Mm…" L paused for thought.  
"Yeah," Beyond finished for him.

"You clearly don't understand the gravity of the situation," Linda put in. She caressed A's face dotingly. "Everything that you ever stood for, and everyone that you ever put your faith in, has crumpled. L, your successors have turned on you. The two that were the ones you thought were perfect both have ended up as killers, going against you in everything they possibly could. Aren't you proud? Look at them."

"And you as well, Linda…" L sighed. "That is disappointing."

"I've been drifting away from your fucked-up ideals for years," she sneered. "When you were worrying yourself over the Fifth Kira, I was contacted by A. He showed me what I could achieve, how unfairly you treated me. He showed me with everything that he was planning. All I had to do was break down the security from the inside."

"Well, it didn't entirely work, did it?" Beyond interjected. "We figured out the freaky fairytale pattern."

"Exactly as I wanted you to," Alternative shrugged. "I wanted you to figure it out, and to be honest, I'm surprised it took you so long after I made it so obvious. I suppose your imaginations were limited slightly by how scattered the murders were. They may have been scattered, but they were very intricately schemed, I can promise you. I would not let you die in a plan that was not well thought out."

"You factored in every possibility that could possibly occur as Wammy's House developed in two years?" L arched an eyebrow. "I have to say, I am impressed."

"Two years?" Alternative snickered. "I had over ten. I have much more to do after this, actually. Saying that, I should really hurry along and get back onto schedule. There are several killings to be made, several lives to be destroyed…"

"Let's get on with it," Linda hissed.

"I agree," Alternative nodded.

"We've let them live much too long," she snarled.

"Yes, we have," Alternative murmured, taking a very small step in Beyond and L's direction, away from Linda. She clasped her hands, her face disgustingly delighted as she held anticipation for their death.

Alternative smirked and swung his arms back in a theatrical gesture, as if to present himself to the world. He had thrown his arms back with such force that it had struck Linda, sending her flying. She did much more than just topple over the edge of the roof. Instead, she was knocked far over. L instinctively moved forward to grab her wrist, and failed. All three of them listened to her horrified, betrayed shriek as she fell, and then the sickening sound of penetrating flesh. She had fallen so that her spine impacted the spiked walls that protected Wammy's House, going right through her in three different places: her head, chest and right thigh. Beyond and L cringed when Linda did not stop squirming for a few seconds.

"Thank _God_," Alternative groaned. "She really was very annoying. How could one woman make so much fucking noise? Christ…"

"You killed her," Beyond said.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Alternative chuckled. "Now… it's your turn."

He was distracted as C burst through the door to the roof, running toward him, gun in hand. He tripped her so that she let go of the gun, but caught her before she could hit the roof's surface. The two other men inhaled sharply as their last hope of getting rid of Alternative slipped over the edge and fell down to the damp, grassy ground below. They turned around to see C on her knees, a knife at her throat. The blade skimmed her skin and she gasped.

"What have we got here? It's rude to interrupt people's conversations," Alternative remarked coolly. He pressed the surface of the knife harder against her flesh. "That wasn't a very good idea, was it? Look what sort of situation you're in. Silly girl." He looked up at L with an amused expression. "Do you usually hire people with this level of stupidity? Or recklessness?"

"Ana," L said sternly, like he was telling her off. "Why did you not stay with the others, like I asked you to?"

"You never told me to stay," she retorted. "And I heard that you were in trouble."

"Who told you?" His face was stormy.

"Mello," she responded.

"We are going to be having words," L assured her. "Mello and I need to speak about how to decide what is safe and what is not."

"I do not think you will be having words with anyone," Alternative disagreed. "Unfortunately, you will be dead long before that is permitted to happen. Now, I want you two" – he flicked his head up in a gesture towards Beyond and L – "to jump off there, in the same direction as Linda. It has to look like you died trying to save her."

"Linda?" C choked out. "What happened to Linda?"

"Linda's dead," Beyond told her.

The wind began to whip up, the sky gray. The rain that had been forecast for that day had clearly arrived a little bit early. There was a low, threatening rumble, as if the fury of the sky echoed the rage of the killers. Sleeting gray droplets of rain began to fall, darkening the scene that was laid out before the four of them. Alternative laughed a little.

"First, tell me about those deaths," L said. "It would unjust to let me die without explaining fully, from the horse's mouth, as it were. Start with the one in Sausalito, Maria Cortez. Why kill her?"

"She tried to stop me. She was going to tell the police what I was planning," he snickered. "She and Rico had been my foster parents after I botched my suicide. There was only one other person who knew about my survival, and he's dead now."

"Wammy," L breathed.

Alternative nodded. "Anyway, after that, I branched out a little and the plan went into drive. Maria was the only unplanned killing. Kristin Buckley was next. I had seen her before, and she never went anywhere without wearing a red hooded sweater. She was perfect. She was just walking along the street, and…" He smiled. "After that, I moved quickly out to Los Angeles. I began to work for Ella Dockery's father, offering him information on a rival estate company. He took me in, and he introduced me to Ella. She was just right for what I needed. I had done research on her previously, figured out her timetable, considered every single step of it. She was easy to deal with. She was so protected, so sheltered as a child, that she didn't know how to defend herself."

"Then Deanne Hounsfield?"

"She was harder. I had to have my criminal record checked. I fabricated a whole new identity, getting documents from the FBI. At Wammy's I had learnt more than just my alphabet." He sighed. "Deanne was having troubles at home. She would have trusted anyone who could offer her security, an escape from her home life. She was from a bad part of the neighborhood. I was the cool janitor who let her smoke in my car and camp out at my place when she didn't want to be at home."

"You groomed her," C spat. "Like a filthy pedophile."

"I prepared her," Alternative growled. "I took the radioactive substance from the school's Science department when they asked me to clean out the supply cupboard. I had to be careful, since there was a lookout for adults that were spending a suspicious amount of time with younger people. I hadn't finished yet."

"Then you killed that family," Beyond said. "You broke into their house and killed them outright, even the child."

"It was necessary," Alternative snapped. "You people! You never think about the big picture! What I've achieved!"

"You killed a bunch of innocent people," C said through gritted teeth. "A common mugger could have done that."

"And how about _you_?" he said, turning his attention to her. "That madwoman from Las Vegas didn't kill you, and I want to know why. You're just a regular PA. L's personal assistant. Why would she bat an eyelid over pulling the trigger on _you_?"

"I stepped in," L interrupted.

"I see," Alternative smirked. "And why did you do that? She's a silly little girl. She can't be more than twenty-seven, and you put your life on the line for her? That is illogical, L. You _do _know he's L, don't you, sweetie? He's not playing you?"

"Of course I know," she breathed. "You think I could work for him for years and not know?"

"Ah," he nodded. "A decent level of intelligence, even if it is not the highest I've ever seen. Do you know why L stepped in for you?"

"She was innocent in the ordeal," L answered for her. "You think I would let a regular citizen die for my cause?"

"Yes." He glanced down once, very sharply, at C. "I think he would let a _regular _citizen die. So what's so special about you? Is it your youth? Your looks? Your wit? What is it?" He yanked on her hair. "_What is it_?"

"I don't know," she whispered.

"Now, now, Ana," he said threateningly, "I don't like lies."

Beyond was shaking his head. L was glaring at her. She looked pleadingly at him, as if begging him to let her say it. She would never say anything without his go-ahead, he knew, and it was down to him now whether she lived or died, and whether their children would ever really be children. She looked pale and drawn, like she was about to throw up or pass out. He stared at his own feet for a little while, and then met Alternative's eyes.

"I would not let her die because she is a colleague," he said, "and an important one. She is another detective. She's not a PA."

"A detective that is not a Wammy's kid…" Alternative tilted his head to one side. "I'm intrigued. Keep talking."

"Her name is not Ana MacDermid," he continued. "We chose the name because it is nothing like her real one. Her real name is Claire Riddle. She is also known by another name. C."

"C?" Alternative looked like a person who'd found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. "Oh, this is precious. Not only do I have the intended victims here, but I have C as well. I could bring down the entire justice system from this very rooftop…"

"Beauty and the Beast," Beyond sighed. "That was us? Well, I always knew that I was more attractive, but that's just too kind."

"For that comment, you can jump first. The two brothers that will die together… I always knew, and I always hated you for it, Beyond. The freak. The psychopath. The outsider." He patted C on the shoulder. "Doesn't L look fantastic when he's about to die? You think so?"

"Leave it, Alternative. Haven't you traumatized her enough?" L snapped.

"He's getting emotional now," Alternative grinned. "He never gets emotional. You really must be very important." The thunder rolled. "The sky is getting angry, Backup. Time to jump."

* * *

_... I much prefer Miss Bright's Alternative to mine. Mine's a git._

**No preview will be given this chapter.**

_The song was Satine and Christian's theme, from "Moulin Rouge!"_

_C._


	41. Run

Athena ran a hand through her dark hair, collapsing into the chair that was situated by her bedroom window. Romeo sat opposite her on the bed. He had an air of maturity and seriousness about him now that had not been evident before had left Wammy's House. He had clearly thought a lot about what had happened between him and K, and what K had done to his brother. Athena found it hard to look at him properly. The hardness in his eyes was reminiscent of Hamlet.

"Why did you come back?" she asked.

"I didn't… I didn't decide it, really," he admitted. "I just thought of all the people I was leaving behind, and I know there's always more than one side to a story. I just remembered my brother, and what he would have wanted me to do. I saw a car on its way to Wammy's House, and I wondered if you guys were in trouble. People at this place tend to have a habit of pissing people off, making a lot of enemies."

"What you did to K was wrong," Athena said.

"I know."

"She _was_ Kira, back then," she pressed, "but she's not anymore. She's the girl that we all have relied on to hold us up, and she's the girl that is supposed to succeed the man we all respect." She bowed her head. "She's also the girl that's falling apart because we've been letting her take the fall for so much shit and we're blaming her when things go wrong. This Kira thing… it came up at totally the wrong time. She did kill those people, and maybe that's partially our fault-"

Romeo stared at her.

"We ignored her and called her a freak when all she needed was our friendship!" Athena insisted. "If someone had said to her, 'it's okay, really, it's okay', and just supported her, she wouldn't have felt the need to kill in order to be noticed, in order to feel like she'd achieved something! _L _should have been there, too, to be her family like he is now. You see, back then, she was a manipulative bitch and she knew it, but look at her now. She's been our friend for years because that's who she _really _is, without that weapon."

"She killed my brother," Romeo said bluntly.

"When she was someone else!" Athena snapped. "That wasn't her! The power of death and murder… it corrupted her. She's human, just like us. You look her in the eyes and you still see a human. I don't know about you, but today… I saw her and I couldn't help thinking…" Tears filled her eyes, and her voice came out thick. "She's just a little girl, a vulnerable little girl who wants to be loved."

Romeo scowled at her, but his eyes were watering a little too. He clutched his head, as if it were causing him pain, and glared down sadly at his shoes. He breathed in and out, counting his breaths. When he felt the noise in his head subsiding, he sat up and looked at his friend. "She sounds like Will," he confessed. "If you put it like that, she sounds angry and hurt, just like him."

"Can you hate your brother?" Athena asked tearfully. "Can you hate him, when he still lives? In both her and you?" She touched his shoulder. "He is your brother, and always will be. She is your friend, and she always will be."

"I can't," he choked out. "I can't save her, Athena."

"Why?" Athena demanded as he stood and made his way to the door.

He glanced back at her solemnly. "Keira Yagami-Lawliet is beyond being saved."

**XXX**

Callie spat the blood that was building in her mouth as she awoke. An IV drip led into her arm, keeping her hydrated, and she was stiff from the pain. Nurse Fearne turned up with a bag of blood to hook into her, and some painkillers. She sat down by the young woman's bed and sighed.

"Linda!" gasped Callie. "She-"

"It's all right, love, we know," Nurse Fearne told her. "L and B are dealing with it right now. They came in with a dark-haired fellow and told me to look after you. It was while you were unconscious that… that Matt explained the situation to me."

"What's going on?" Callie whispered.

"That man that came in…" Nurse Fearne looked horrified. "It was Alternative, L's first successor."

"What?" Callie gasped. "I thought he was dead!"

"So did we," the older woman agreed. "He must survived it somehow, years ago. It wouldn't shock me completely. Dear old Wammy always was good at hiding stuff like that. Alternative stabbed you, we think. He took L and B away… and C followed them. I feel for them, I really do, especially after hearing the news…" She patted Callie's hand. "C's pregnant."

"She's…" Callie gaped at her.

"With twins," she added. "It's tragic, darling, but there's nothing that we can do except hope, and pray that they'll come out of it all right. They're good people, and if it's what fate wants, it'll turn out okay." She shook her head. "I can't believe that someone would want to hurt others this way. I've seen some nasty things in my time, Callie, but none as agonizing as this."

"You think that any Wammy's kids ever end up living… normally?" Callie mumbled.

"No, I don't," Nurse Fearne confessed. "This place… having so much responsibility piled on you from an early age… Callie, I think children should just _be _children. I think they need to know what it's like to be young, and have freedom. They need to know what normal families are like. This is a wonderful family to be a part of, but it's not a normal one." She smiled weakly. "I have grandchildren, and I love it, and I think that's something a lot of students here will never get a chance to have." She gestured flippantly to thin air. "Look at Beyond Birthday. He should be settled down with a wife and a baby by now, and instead he's carrying you in here, covered in blood…"

Callie sat up straight, eyes wide and bright blue.

"B?"

**XXX**

Beyond shook his head. He wasn't ready to go yet. There was so much he had yet to do, so much he had yet to say. Still, there he was, lingering on the edge of a roof, preparing to step off into mid-air as if life had meant absolutely nothing to him, and the man who had helped wreck his own childhood could control when his life ended. He turned around to look back at Alternative, who still was holding a knife to C's throat.

"You're taking your time," Alternative remarked coldly.

"It's just that…" His eyes soared skyward as he searched for something to say, anything that would the man pause for some thought. "There's something much more evil you could do, should you want to actually go down in history."

"What are you babbling about?"

"There's more than meets the eye, A, that you just haven't been smart enough to figure out quite yet," he said quickly. "Because you don't get _people_. You never understood them like I did." He put himself in a safer position, walking away from the edge. "I see names. Names say things about others. What country their from… what sort of people their parents are… who their family is now."

Alternative scowled, as if attempting to process what Beyond was saying. It finally clicked, and then he grinned, seeing L freeze.

"Family!" he spat. "You three are now all related!" He laughed. "So you are L's brother and L is Claire's husband? I understand now. Those lies you told me were purposefully said, weren't they, L? You wanted to _protect _her."

"You bastard," L growled at Beyond. "You had to save your own skin. Even if you did not have an issue with desiring my own death, you could have at least spared hers, yet you did not, and _that_… that is why I would not want to admit that you are related to me, even by a trickle of blood."

"Ouch," sneered Alternative. "That was cruel. My, L, how harsh and unfeeling you have become in such a short space of time. From declaring you wished to save this woman's life to instantly disowning the only family you have left, aside from a stupid girl, who, according to Linda, also wanted you dead…"

"And she learned, much like you should, that you can't control people's times of death," Beyond hissed. "It just happens. I see it happen. So try this one time, Alternative, for some pity. Because you never know exactly how long you've got left."

"This is coming from a serial killer."

"This is coming from someone with experience," Beyond contradicted. "You want to be a real man? Turn yourself in."

"You never did," Alternative snapped.

"Because I," Beyond said proudly, "am a coward. Every day of the week. Twenty-four hours a day. This…" He gestured to his surroundings. "This is the first brave thing I've ever done, and my brother despises me for it. So yeah, I might be a serial killer. Yeah, L has pretty much disowned me. And yeah, you were smarter than me when we were kids."

"I still am-"

"No, you're not," Beyond insisted, a slight smile upon his face. "You're wrong. I am _so _much smarter than you. I am _so _much luckier. I know, generally, a lot more than you. For example, I know _everyone _who lives at this place now, and I knew them back then too. I know more than to walk into a place with some of the most intelligent people in the world as residents unprepared, without support."

"I don't need support, as you've seen with Linda," Alternative snarled. "And as you may have noticed, you don't _have _backup. No one here wants to help you. You're alone up here."

"You're forgetting something," Beyond said coolly. "I _am _Backup."

"Shut up!" Alternative barked. "_Jump_!"

"Don't do it," C mumbled.

"C, be quiet," Beyond said. "You've got two children to think of."

"Is that so?" Alternative growled. "Well, then… L, you go first. Jump, L, or Claire dies."

The door to the rooftop slowly, and very nearly silently, opened, as there was deep rumble of thunder. A teenage girl slipped through, pale and covered in her own dried blood, with a gash on her forehead and a black notebook in her hand. She glared up at Alternative, kneeling behind him. L did not see her.

Beyond did.

"You have a lot to think about, A," Beyond said.

He noticed K's eyes widening slightly and a furious vengeance begin to smolder within them. He had very rarely seen disgust and hatred of such a magnitude in someone's expression. K could just about see C, and the situation she was in, with a blade at her neck. She could also spot L, hovering on the edge of the rooftop. It was not his turn to die. She would not let the last people in her family die.

"I'll think about it when you're dead and gone," A laughed. "So go ahead and jump, L. I want more time to think."

"You always were bad at monologues," Beyond smirked. "I'm getting terribly bored, A. Axel."

"Don't – call – me – by – my – name!" Alternative shouted.

"You've not been called that for a very long time, have you, Axel?" L said. "Even as a child, we never called you that, for your own safety. Are you angry at us, Axel?"

The rain got harder, the wind stronger, so that soon Alternative could barely see L through the sheeting gray downpour.

"Axel Lister," Beyond said boldly. "The man who could have been great."

It was all done in a hurried scrawl on soaking wet paper. Beyond waited for the heart attack that he believed was deliberately written to strike his enemy, yet it did not come. Instead, a blank look came over his face. C caught sight of his empty expression as he staggered forward, toward her and Alternative. His eyes widened, and Alternative stared at them, feeling the red in them scorch him.

"Beyond!" L yelled, rushing toward his brother.

"_No_!" C screamed as Beyond wrestled the knife from Alternative's grip. She was knocked aside.

"Backup, no," gasped Alternative, eyes round with fear.

Forcefully, Beyond drew the glittering blade across Alternative's throat. The man that could have been great toppled over the edge of the roof and fell, not onto the spikes of the walls, but into the dirt of the ground below.

The rest was silence.

* * *

_And so Alternative is finally gone... but what of the others? Any other loose ends will be tied up soon, although it is of course not the end yet._

**Preview**

"It's over," she said. "Everything is finished."

"It's never going to be over," the other female responded. "There are some things that have to be completed first, and they won't be until Beyond makes the first move."

_Who are the two females that are talking? Three guesses in each review!_

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Its music was 'Run' by Snow Patrol, but towards the end, 'Mercutio's Death' by Craig Armstrong was also used._

_Part of the reason I've been unable to update is my lack of Internet, and then because I've been busy with a Harry Potter parody that my friends and I have been doing. For behind-the-scenes footage, you can visit confuzzledMage's channel on YouTube. I am currently writing the script to the 'Chamber of Secrets', and I was the poor unfortunate soul who had to write the first one. So basically, if it's shit, it's my fault... eek._

_C._


	42. Love The Way You Lie Part 2

Beyond dropped the knife as visible comprehension returned to his expression. He blinked, the hazed confusion and emptiness disappearing. He looked down at his shirt, covered in blood as he was. The rain began to disperse, leaving him able to see what was going on. He felt L's hands on his shoulder, as if he had been trying to pull him back from something. He saw K on her knees on the ground, tears in her eyes and spattered in some blood.

"What happened?" Beyond said, startled.

"B, not now," L insisted.

"What did I _do_?" He stared down at the blood on his shirt. "That's a lot of blood. I just remember seeing her behind him and saying his name and expecting the heart attack to come and then… shit." He rushed to the edge of the roof and looked out over the scene before him, where the body of Linda was impaled on spikes and Alternative, Axel Lister, was sprawled on the now blood-sodden ground. He saw the knife where he had dropped it.

L nodded.

"Oh," Beyond said.

"I'm sorry!" K was gasping. "Sorry! I had to… I had to make you kill him… I… I couldn't…"

C knelt in front of her and hugged her tightly, soothing her. "It's okay now, K, it's all right… it's all over. You've been such a brave girl, and I'm so proud of you. _We're _so, so proud of you."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Your parents would be proud of you too," she added.

"Even Dad?"

"_Especially _Dad," C assured her. "It's fine… you did the right thing, Keira."

"I don't want the Note anymore," K told her. "I don't want to go near any shred of the thing. It turns people into monsters. It's a killer. I hate it. If it could die, I'd want it dead."

"You don't need it anymore." She drew back slightly to observe her goddaughter's expression. "You don't have to have it. You can do what you did before… rescind possession of the Death Note."

"I don't know what's right or what's wrong anymore…"

"It's better that way," L put in.

"I don't want to forget, either!" K protested. "I don't want to forget any of it. Just… please… please, burn it. Don't let it near any of the children who come here. It'll poison them like it did me. Burn it, and no shinigami will ever come looking for it. I won't forget, and nobody will be able to touch it." She swallowed back tears. "It's never going to change me ever, ever again."

C nodded. "Give the Death Note to L, Keira. He's going to burn it."

K bowed her head and put her arms around C again, seeking comfort. "I finally did it. I hope Mum and Dad really _are _proud of me."

"They really are," C agreed. "Come on. Let's get you some rest… come on… that's it…"

The two females stood up together, supporting one another, and left the roof through the doorway, which was now open, having been left that way after K's arrival. It might have been a few minutes before L finally spoke up. He flipped the Death Note around in his hands and avoided his brother's eyes. There was a lot to be said, and initiation had never been his strong point. Beyond had taken a seat on the roof, his legs hanging off the edge.

"I'm not going to apologize," L said. "After what you did – and the fact I didn't know – you can't expect me to – I didn't _know_… about us."

"Now, now, L, you're making us sound like a couple," Beyond quipped.

"You process things with levity," L muttered.

"Oh, so now you're a psychoanalyst-?"

"Will you just _grow up_?" L snapped. He lowered his voice. "I don't quite hate you, B, but I _loathe _what you have done to people. Do you even know what actually happened to our parents? Do you?"

Beyond, wordless for once, shook his head.

"The reason I never knew about you being my brother was because you were not… accounted for. My – our – mother… she was leaving hospital with Rin in a push-chair. I was waiting for them in the car. Our father was with them, helping our mother carry Rin's things. I did not know about a second child. We had never known there would be twins. And some crazy man, a man who apparently had lost someone in the hospital, came along and shot them." Beyond winced. "He did not hit Rin. I got out of the car after breaking the child-locks and picked Rin up."

"But I was still in hospital-" Beyond mumbled.

"And I did not know about you," L finished for him. "So I told the police that Rin was the only member of my family left. I gave a very accurate description of the shooter to the police, because of my memory. It was from then on that I wanted to be in law enforcement. I always knew I was not a normal child, and I did not have the 'people skills' to be a proper police officer. I was at school and entered for an invention competition. That's how I came to meet Quillish Wammy. He found you in a separate care home some years later."

Beyond stood up and looked at his older brother for a little while. Then he smirked a little.

"Ah, the inefficiency of the British social welfare system," he said, before leaving the rooftop silently.

L reached into his jeans pocket and removed a cell phone. With that, he dialed three numbers.

**XXX**

M sat back in her chair, observing the six people that stood before her. She lifted her hands up in a questioning gesture, her expression fierce. The spectators shuffled their feet a bit before listening to what she had to say to them. She looked like she wanted to stew them alive and eat them all for breakfast, which, probably, was very much the case.

"What the fuck is this?" she said calmly. "Mm? Why has everything suddenly gone so downhill?"

"M-"

"Shut up, B. I wasn't actually addressing _you_." She sat upright, clasped her hands together on top of the desk in front of her and glowered angrily directly at the auburn-haired teenager present. "Tell me, Rebel, the answer to my question."

"I don't know, ma'am, may I be excused?" Rebel countered sarcastically.

"You have a lot to answer for, girl, and if you don't want me to reenact Guantanamo Bay in this very room, you'd better start getting chatty," M threatened. "Where the fuck is the plan that we put in place, and why the fuck do you now _care_?"

"There's worse than these people in the world, M," Rebel retorted. "We should be shooting those sons of bitches. Sons of bitches that rape and maim and are-"

"Like you?" M suggested. She finally stood up, her hands flat on the desk. "Ruby Callahan, you are where you are because you are exactly like the people that you are describing. You've killed, and you've maimed. Sky has raped girls, and murdered them too. Nancy has killed a lot, and you've led her down that path. So don't you _dare _go self-righteous on me when you're worse than any of us here. Don't – you – _dare_."

Rebel tried to swallow her rage.

"It's over," she said. "Everything is finished."

"It's never going to be over," the other female responded. "There are some things that have to be completed first, and they won't be until Beyond makes the first move."

"What?" Nancy interjected. "What are you talking about? Making the first move? After everything we've been through?"

Beyond stepped forward defiantly. "I have agreed to finish this properly, as best I can. I don't want connections to L. We're each going to get involved."

"The seven of us?" Sky frowned.

"No," Tanya piped up. She had a satisfied smirk on her face. "Every single one of us. Every Beyond's kid that ever came to Wammy's is getting involved. That something going to be difficult for you, Sky?"

"How are we 'getting involved'?" he responded.

"I would have thought it was obvious by now," Eve put in. Behind the innocent, thirteen-year-old façade, she really did have a dark side. Death had finally managed to corrupt her. "This is waiting we've been waiting for. The original plan is in place, but with a few changes."

"You can't be serious," Sky said.

"And why not?" Eve asked.

"Because it's insane!" Rebel answered for him. "You're asking every Beyond's kid to-"

"You got a problem with that, Rebel?" Tanya sneered. "Maybe no longer so _rebellious_…"

"How are we supposed to do it?" Sky asked in a low voice.

"Sky!" Rebel gasped, hitting him on the arm, though he did not react. "Sky, you can't possibly-"

"Can't _what_, Rebel?" he barked. "What can't I do? I can do _anything_. I don't need you to tell me what I can and can't do-"

"You're such a coward!" she insisted. "You're not thinking for anyone else anymore, you're just being selfish and just as cruel as you were before you got off the antidepressants!"

"Fuck you, Rebel," Sky snarled, storming out of the room. He called back, "I'm going to do my job!"

Nancy whimpered slightly before following him out, along with Tanya and Eve.

Rebel was left facing M with a glower on her face. M pressed a knife's hilt into her hand as she brushed past the girl.

"Just in case you change your mind," she said coolly.

**XXX**

Nancy saw Damnation facing away from her as she entered the room. He looked like he was reading a book. He threw it roughly over his shoulder and it landed close to her feet. He turned around before he caught sight of her. Her face looked so apologetic, and she so vulnerable, that for a moment his gut instinct to comfort her almost kicked in. She could see it in his face, the flicker of concern then overpowered by the hurt.

"Hey," he muttered.

"I'm sorry," she said. She bowed her head and saw that the book Damnation had thrown had in fact been a French-English dictionary. She picked it up. "You… you got over your French aversion."

"I guessed I might need it," he shrugged, "you know, if I ever went there, or if I went to some parts of Canada or Tunisia or-" He cut himself off, shaking his head. "It's nothing, really. A friend of mine… she said I should learn."

"Damnation," Nancy mumbled, "I really, really _do _like you. It might have started that I was _supposed _to like you, but it just sort of snowballed. You're a good guy."

Damnation turned away again. "Don't, Nancy. If you cared, you'd end it."

"That's what I'm trying to do," she said shakily, removing the gun from the place in the back of her belt where she'd hidden it. She pointed it at the teenager's head and saw that her hands were trembling.

"What are you-?" He froze when he turned and saw the gun. "Nancy, give me the gun."

"No…" she sobbed. "I can't… I'm supposed to… supposed to…"

"There's no 'suppose' anymore, Nance," he said soothingly. "Give me the gun, and the heart I hoped I already had."

"Gun…" she sniffed. "_Pistolet_… heart… _cœur_…"

"_Cœur_…" he repeated. "I know that one." He cautiously placed his palm over the barrel of the gun and helped her lower it into his other outstretched hand. With that, he pried the gun away from her fingers, put the safety on, threw it onto his bed and hugged her.

**XXX**

Slo seemed to be waiting for Rebel when she turned up in his room. He was leaning against a bedpost, arms folded. She smiled weakly at him, taking a step further into the room and closing the door behind her. After a few minutes of them staring at each other, Slo gradually began to smile back. He gestured for her to sit on the chair that was located close to him, which she did. As she sank into the chair, he spoke up.

"I've been thinking a lot about what you," Slo admitted, "and what you did. What happened in Las Vegas shouldn't have happened, and it shouldn't have had such an effect on how I feel about you."

"Sam-"

"No, let me say it." He sighed. "I suppose I always knew it, deep in my subconscious. It was right at the back of my head. Girls never meant as much to me as they should have done."

"I knew that."

"But there's more," he insisted. "They never meant as much to me because I was really waiting for the right person."

"Sam."

"_You're _the right person, Ruby. You're it." He smiled properly this time, his eyes warm. "You understand what I'm saying, right?"

"Sam, I abandoned M and B," she said slowly. "I said no to them. I gave up on them. I didn't want to be a part of it anymore."

"You… but you're M's successor, aren't you? Her first-in-line?" He stared at her.

"Not anymore," Rebel shrugged. She stood up. "I'm done. I am my own person."

"And that," Slo said, grinning as he embraced her, "is why I love you."

"You love me?" she whispered, her eyes widening.

Her brain was going into panic-mode. Panic, panic, _love_, panic… NO. No, he couldn't possibly… love just didn't compute. He had to have an ulterior motive. There had to be something much more simple than this complexity of his truly accepting what she was and what she'd done… Her mind was going into terror overload. She had to get rid of the pain by getting rid of the agony. She couldn't focus… couldn't function, with this clouding her vision.

PANIC. PAIN. OVERLOAD.

She took the knife M had given her and drove it into Slo's stomach automatically, shaking with what she was unaccustomed to – emotion. He let out a gasp of agony, dropping to the ground. Covered in his blood, she staggered towards the door.

**XXX**

K was beating a punch-bag viciously, putting all of her effort into every single strike she made. She occasionally put in a very strong kick, sending the bag flying. She had to time to catch it and regain her strength before continuing in this cycle. She was in the midst of this cycle, concentrating fully, when Sky entered. He looked so sorry that she wondered if it was really the young man she grown to hate so much. She threw another punch at the bag just to calm herself down. She swung her leg up high for a head-level kick.

Sky caught the bag. "You ever going to talk to me again?"

"You don't deserve to be talked to," she said sharply, picking up a towel from the bench at the side of the gym. She wiped her forehead, looking at the wall instead of him. "So fuck off."

"I don't want to give up," he said. "What M said in the room… it was true. Every word of it."

K threw a punch at him, which he blocked. "I _hate _you, Sky Saxon. James Blue. Whichever. Neither matters to me anymore. You're dead to me."

"Anymore?" He arched an eyebrow. "So it mattered before?"

"No!" She moved to strike him and found that he caught her wrist easily. She began to try to beat him with her fists at a high speed and he blocked every single punch. With that, he grabbed her forearm and pulled her into him, catching her mouth with his own. He was surprised to feel her respond, and she pulled away slightly only so she could speak. "I think… I love you."

"I love you too," he said quietly. As she carried on kissing him, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans, where an already tied rope was ready in a hangman's noose.

With the rope in his hand and pain in his face – which she could not see, as her eyes were closed – he made it out that he was going to put his hands in her hair. Instead, he tugged the noose around her neck and tightened it before she could stop him.

Her dark eyes widened as he choked the air out of her. He held onto the noose as she clawed helplessly at his wrists, trying to make him let go whilst she still had consciousness. A single tear slid out from her eye.

"Why?" she choked out.

Unable to deal with that, he dropped her. She reminded him too much of the victims he'd had before. It was too late anyway. She was unconscious, and still unable to breathe. He ran out of the gymnasium and kept running.

Sky Saxon, always running.

* * *

_It is still not over! I couldn't let it end without a bit more drama!_

**Preview**

"Not this time, you son of a bitch," she gasped.

"Ow," he muttered. "That _really_ hurt, you know."

_Who are these people? Three guesses in each review, because I like seeing how creative you are._

_Reviews are metaphorical cybercookies._

_C._


	43. Apologize

After leaving the infirmary in silence, Callie was hobbling around on crutches, but she knew she'd be okay. There were ways in which she had yet to recover, yet her mentality was strong as ever. She couldn't help being proud of herself, having gotten up and still be standing after the horrific events of the past few weeks. And now it was done. She saw L walking across the hall in the direction of the conference room.

Callie smiled softly at him. "I'm holding up well. Thanks for asking," she chuckled.

"It's been a long day," he responded, shrugging. "Where are you off to on those?" He gestured to her crutches with one hand. "You should not already be up and about."

"I need to speak to B," she said quietly. "I think… I owe him. According to Nurse Fearne, you two brought me into the infirmary."

L nodded in agreement. "Yes, we did. I hope you recover soon, Callie." As she began to limp off in another direction, he spoke again. "He clearly… thinks a lot… of you, Callie. Be careful."

She laughed quietly. "Thank you for the early warning, L."

When she was gone and he'd seen her get across the hall without causing herself any damage, he stopped, hearing the sound of footsteps behind him. "C?" he said automatically. He needed to speak to her anyway, needed to reassure her that his reaction to her pregnancy was just triggered by the initial shock and not because he was contemptuous of the idea.

"Yeah, sure, darling, it's me," M said mockingly as she walked down the stairs behind him. She laughed derisively. "So, so gullible. Even funnier, you're _hopeful._ It's fucking brilliant. Gives me chills."

L sighed. "What do you want, M?"

"You never really liked me, did you?" M sneered. "I don't know whether it's because I always took the piss out of what you stood for, or because I was the one who knew C before you. I was never actually inclined to like you. You're arrogant and self-centered. You view people like objects. You took away one of my best friends when I was about to turn eighteen years old. You make things unbelievably boring. Peace and goodwill? Who wants it?"

"Get to the point, M," L said coldly.

"Well, that's it. I don't _like _you. I really don't." She leant up against the banister coolly. "I don't see why C likes you at all. I never killed you, despite having several opportunities, because C likes you, and I knew that, though I didn't understand her reasons."

L scowled. "What are you saying?"

"I'm _saying_, B couldn't really kill you now, because you're his big brother, and I couldn't kill C, because she's an old friend." She smirked. "But C will never know about you dying, because… well, she'll be gone too. You two are making things _dull_. I don't like _dull_. What I don't like, I get rid of. I don't usually whine and complain about it. I just do what I have to do to deal with the irritant. This time, the irritant is you, L. Savvy?"

She withdrew a gun from her jacket and smiled politely.

"I never wanted to use this one on you," she admitted. "It's too… _shiny_."

**XXX**

"What do you mean, that was the part of the plan?" Damnation demanded as they ran through the main building's top floors. "What about the others? What's going to happen to them?"

"We were ordered to kill every single one of them, and start with the most difficult," Nancy explained hastily, holding on tightly to his hand. "I had to kill you, Rebel had to kill Slo, Sky had to kill K, M had to kill L and B had to kill C!"

"Why that way round?"

"It could be done in an emotionless, detached manner by someone without connections to the person they were killing. We successors were considered a moot point, null and void, because they never thought we'd just ignore their orders. They never thought that we'd say no to them and spare your lives," Nancy elaborated. "I couldn't kill you, Damnation, and that's something they didn't factor into the ordeal. It's Rebel you've got to worry about. K can fend for herself, but Slo is too caught up in his feelings for Rebel that he won't think to be alert!"

"_There_!" Damnation yelled, seeing Slo's door slightly ajar, and his friend's hand pale and strewn out behind his head as he lay on his back. He threw open the door, Nancy following, and knelt down beside his friend. "Slo! Jesus Christ… she stabbed him…"

"He's still bleeding a lot," Nancy remarked, horrified. "She can't have stabbed him that long ago."

"Good," Damnation said confidently.

"What-?"

"If he's still bleeding, it means he's still alive," Damnation pointed out, beginning to calm down and get into the mindset that Wammy's had prepared him for. In a crisis, he had to keep a cool head. He presumed that with Beyond, Nancy had never learned that skill. "Pass me that pillow case. I'm going to tie it tight around the wound, stem the bleeding. Go to the wardrobe and you'll find a first aid kit on the top shelf – that's it – right. Antiseptic." He pressed his hand to Slo's wound. "Sorry, man, but this is going to really hurt."

"It might hurt enough to bring him back to consciousness," Nancy commented, going white as a sheet. She was still shaking a bit from panic.

"That's what I'm hoping," Damnation confirmed. "Nance, I need you to try and find anyone else who might be able to help us. I'm going to do what I can from here. I need to keep him company, talk to him, get him conscious."

Just before she ran out the door, Nancy smiled weakly. "You'd make an awesome doctor, Damnation. Just consider it."

"Go, Nance."

She kissed him on the forehead before sprinting off to seek help.

**XXX**

Beyond compared it to stalking prey, as though he himself were a predator. He had his soon-to-be-victim in his sights as she headed towards the stairs in the schooling block. She had just left one of the upper-floor classrooms, previously belonging to the late traitor Linda, or, as he had always known her, Agrafina Kharkov. Now she walked towards the stairs, was so close to them, was putting her foot out –

He went to shove her roughly so that she would lose her footing and fall down, hopefully breaking her neck. However, she must have seen him coming, because she grabbed hold of wrists, stepped slightly to the side and flung him down so that rolled down the stairs and landed flat on his back at the bottom of the stairs. He groaned on the impact and laid there for a short while as C ran down the steps towards him. She, understandably, looked absolutely furious.

"Not this time, you son of a bitch," she gasped.

"Ow," he muttered. "That _really_ hurt, you know."

"You tried to kill me," she growled.

"Yeah, I gave it a shot," he said, as if he were tired. "I knew it wasn't likely that it was gonna work. Who knows? Your death date could've changed at the last minute, just as I was going to push you. Something like that has happened before…"

She glared at him. "I'm your sister-in-law, you bastard. It's time you learned to deal with the fact you actually have family now. You don't have any excuse to act like a dick anymore."

He painstakingly scrambled to his feet as she swept past him. "Where are you going? Aren't you going to tell me a really long monologue about how good triumphs over evil and you can't control death and shit?"

"No." She glowered at him. "If you're trying to kill me, I supposed that you've got your lot trying to kill ours. And since they're my friends, and you're not in any fit state to try and murder someone, I'm going to help."

Beyond stretched and heard a muscle somewhere in his back click. "Ow… I don't get you good guys…"

**XXX**

"C's never going to forgive you for this," L said. "Think about that prospect before you pull the trigger, M. There's remorse to be had."

"Oh, fuck off with your self-righteousness, L," M retorted icily. "Remorse? Don't you get it? Can't you figure it out with that supposedly mammoth-sized brain of yours? C is _never _going to find out. B's dealing with her as we speak. She's not going to be able to step in front of the bullet for you like she did last time I raised a gun to your face. You're on your own. And you are so dead."

The two were silent after the last proclamation as M flicked the safety off the gun with her thumb. L closed his eyes and waited for the shot, when all he suddenly heard was a shuttering breath, as if someone was crying, and a small cough, as though that someone were trying to choke a sound out. His eyes flickered open to alight on Rebel, Ruby Callahan, staggering down the stairs towards them – her shirt stained in blood.

She dragged herself to stand in front of L, her broken expression the picture of anguish, also smeared with blood, as though the blood on her hands had been spread onto her face. She faced M with a quiet, agonizing cry, and sank back, collapsing backwards as her knees crumpled. L caught her and stared in surprise at the trembling teenager.

"Rebel?" The anger in M's voice evaporated. She now appeared completely stunned – so stunned that she dropped the weapon she was holding. "Rebs, what are you doing? What happened?"

"I did it," she sobbed, "I fucking did it… are you happy now?"

"What?" L's eyes widened.

"I had to… I had the knife and… I couldn't stop… I didn't… I never wanted to hurt him… I never wanted him to die…" She was weeping openly now, her voice thick and cracked. "I loved him… I _loved _him!"

"Why did you kill him, then?" M snapped. "If you didn't want him to die-"

"Because he said he loved me back," she choked out. "I couldn't control – I – he – he's dead now, M… he's gone… I'm so sorry… I'm a fucking… fucking _sociopath_, and… I had to kill him…"

L wasn't sure how to deal with the scene before him, so settled for rocking the girl back and forth as he would a baby in a crib. This and the soft 'ssh' sounds he made to attempt to stop her crying calmed her. He just thought of how he'd used to soothe Rin when she was upset as a child. Maybe… maybe he wasn't going to be such an awful father after all.

"He's dead…" she cried. "It's all my fault…"

**XXX**

There was a sense of déjà vu as Romeo passed through the grounds of Wammy's House. He remembered seeing a door slightly open, and there was a door slightly open again, this time not leading into Roger's office, but into the gymnasium. This was not odd. People had free access to the gym all the time. What _was _odd was the fact that there was no noise being emitted from the gym. He couldn't hear the squeak of rubber soles across the polished floor, or the sound of heavy breathing as somebody exercised.

He tentatively pushed the door open, frowning, when he saw a girl sprawled on the floor with a noose around her neck. Her eyes were wide open, and slightly moist, so it couldn't have been long since she was technically strangled. He recognized those eyes and found himself unable to move. He was uncertain of whether he should really help her.

K.

Athena had said that she was not Kira anymore, but that didn't mean that she had not killed people in the past, that she had not murdered his brother in cold blood. It did not mean that she had possessed a weapon of such vast, terrifying power that she had taken it upon herself to become a goddess of death in her own right.

It also didn't mean that she wasn't the girl Athena had said she was. She _was _relied on for an awful lot more than any young person should ever have had to cope with. The amount of responsibility thrust upon her was unquantifiable. The lack of support that went with that was shocking. She was now healthier, happier, a much better person altogether. The proof of her profound effect on people now that she was without a Death Note was evident when Romeo considered how people had reacted to her alleged death. Even those who had not known her particularly well had been distraught.

She wasn't Kira anymore. Saving this K was not the same as saving Kira.

It was this thought that prompted Romeo, Erik Hathaway, to run to her side, remove the noose from around the throat – now bruised and with a few rope burns – and begin doing chest compressions combined with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It was after about thirty seconds of this process that she began to cough and he helped her sit up, putting his arms around her shoulders.

He wasn't exactly sure what she'd been through, but as she placed her chin on his shoulder and put her arms around his waist, she began to cry silently.

* * *

_There's still more left; it's all been so sad, but there is still time. Not that it will necessarily end happily, if any of my previous hints within the series are anything to go by._

**Preview**

"I'm not allowed to," she mumbled. "If I cry, you'll know that you're the only one who can make me all messed up." She stepped back out of his arms. "I have to go. If I'm not at the wedding, there will be one man in particular trampling over my corpse."

_What's happening? Who's saying this? Three guesses for the first question in each review, and two for the second._

_Enjoy!_

_C._


	44. Someone Like You

**Little over o****ne year later…**

Matt handed C a copy of Vogue. "Don't let K see this," he warned. "Callie just showed it to me, and _he's _in it. Front cover again. It might be a bit much. He's in London at the moment, I heard."

C rolled her eyes. "It would have to be _now_, wouldn't it?" Something caught her eye and she tapped Slo on the shoulder. "Will you quit trying the reenact the 'Circle of Life' scene with Amaya? She'll grow up thinking she's a cartoon lion."

"Aw," he whined. "She _likes _it. Look, she's giggling! If I can't use Amaya, can I at least borrow Will?"

"No. With his middle name being Light, he'd probably end up singing 'Be Prepared' for the rest of his life," she muttered. "Here, give me Amaya. We're going to get M and B from prison this afternoon, and then we'll be back for the wedding."

Slo grudgingly handed over the dark-haired girl to her mother.

"Why did he have to be in London when the wedding's on, for God's sake?" Matt groaned. "If K sees him and he upsets her, Mello and L will kill him. Listen to this…"

'_Nineteen-year-old heartthrob James Blue is set up for a promising career after his commitment to top designers all over the globe. __A shocker for all political followers, son of Senator Charles Blue somehow survived a mugging when he was fifteen and since then has returned to his family with amnesia and no idea of what he'd been doing over the two years he was missing. After his sudden appearance, he has become one of the world's most popular celebrities, supporting the CIA and proving politics doesn't have to be boring. Now James is set to conquer the world of showbiz, music and fashion with his possible involvement in a new movie filmed in the UK.'_

**XXX**

A lot had changed in one year. After being discovered by his family in New York, James Blue had reappeared in the public eye as someone who had somehow survived a mugging with amnesia and had no idea where he had been for all the time he had been proclaimed dead. His father had won a seat in the Senate partially because of his involvement, saying he would fight against crime by joining the CIA – little did they know he had been an agent before. He had become a poster boy for the CIA, as if the state were showing off how much work they were doing.

This had only escalated; he was in London supposedly attending a big event for a designer label that wanted him for modeling. He had already completed a Dolce and Gabbana campaign in addition to a new line of men's eveningwear for Gucci. He felt resentful every time he saw himself on the cover of a magazine or his family making headlines in major newspapers. If only the public knew the truth: that he was a rapist, serial killer and disgraced ex-CIA agent and that he had murdered the only girl he had ever felt something real for.

Instead of going to the event like his family had wanted, he'd arrived in the limousine, said hello to the people he was meant to say hello to and disappeared out through the staff door, where no journalists would be likely to follow. Still in the black tie get-up, he entered a pub called the Four Barrels. He took a seat an empty wooden table, loving the atmosphere of normality.

That was until the waitress saw him. Her jaw dropped, her eyes widened and she began to strut towards him, trying a hair-flip. Seeing the hair-flip, he couldn't help but smile into his hand, remembering what his former friend was like with hair-flips. Former friend… was that how he referred to her now?

Yes. That was how he _had to _refer to her, mainly because she was part of the old life he was trying to leave behind by going back to his family. The waitress sidled up to his table flirtatiously and took out a pen to write down his order.

"How can I help you, Mr. Blue?" she cooed.

He pretended not to hear the implications of that and smiled genially at her. "Why don't you choose for me?" he asked in a low voice.

She let out a quiet squeal she could barely restrain and set off to the bar, deep in thought. James leant back in his seat, resting an elbow on the back of the chair and stretching his legs out in front of him. He could hear 'Touchin' On My' playing on the stereo and bit his lip. A pile of newspapers and magazines were laid on the top of the bar, and he knew the latest copy of Vogue would be among them.

Guys gathered around a pool table groaned in unison. The burliest of the men, a tall, stocky fellow with a Cockney accent and shaved head, slammed his hand down on the green surface. "Shit! Sneaky little cow's robbing us blind."

"Fucking hell," another muttered. "I wish I could hustle like that."

That made James smile for some reason. He saw the back of the person who was allegedly 'robbing them blind'. Tall, donning a black leather jacket, black jeans and black leather boots, the person was clearly female. She had long, wavy black hair, which, fascinatingly, didn't look as if it was dyed. She placed her hands either side of her body on the pool table as if studying the positions of each ball on the table.

The waitress placed a pint glass in front of him. "House beer," she told him sweetly. "Just let me know if you want anything else."

One of the men suddenly went up behind the girl at the pool table and gripped her face in one hand. He heard him growl at her. "I'm not getting beaten by some little girlie. Give me my money back."

None of them saw her reach down underneath the pool table and hook her fingers around the pool cue. Calmly, she swung the cue around to hit the man holding her with. James heard a _crack _as the wood collided with the guy's skull. She ducked out of his grip and prepared for the ones who were trying to defend their mate. Any punches swung missed only to be met by kicks or whacks with the cue.

Finally, James decided to intervene, leaping to his feet and unbuttoning his jacket to allow more free movement. He attempted to grab one end of the cue and received a kick to the solar plexus. He wasn't taking that lying down. He wrapped his hands around both ends of the pool cue and just as she tried a kick, he trapped her leg up by her shoulders with it and held her against the pool table. His first thought was awe at how she was able to keep a straight leg up to her shoulders.

His second thought was, _oh shit_.

It was no wonder he had been so interested in the girl. All that had happened was she had applied makeup and grown her hair out. It evidently had turned black eventually of its own accord, and now coal-black eyes locked with his dark blue ones. For a few moments, neither of them dared to breathe. She could have been about to cry and he wouldn't have been able to do anything but watch her. She was _alive_.

She spoke first. "I have to go," she breathed.

He stepped back, dropping the pool cue. She brought her leg down and began to walk out. She stopped in the doorway, glancing back at him. Slo came out of the bathroom and froze.

"K," he gasped, worried for her. James turned. "_You_."

"Slo?" he said. "I thought Rebel killed you."

"Oh, you finally give a shit about what happens to us?" he growled.

"That's unfair."

"_Is _it?"

"Slo, stop it." K's voice shut them both up. "We'd better get to the wedding."

"Yeah," Slo agreed. "Won't be much of a wedding without us."

James's stomach dropped into the soles of his feet. Slo was already at the door, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Wedding?" he repeated, his mouth going dry.

"Yes," K said calmly. "Wedding."

This was the last straw. He ran out and caught K by the waist, dragging her out from under Slo's arm. Slo glared at him. "Let her go," he snapped. "When you left a year ago, you left her for dead. You have no idea what the fuck you did."

"You know, I really wish that Rebel had succeeded in killing you," he snarled. "I don't care if you have a wedding you really should be attending. I'm going to be stealing a very important part of it, trust me. I don't know what you two have been up to since the last time I saw you, but I can assure you that this time I have you I'm not letting you go. Ever."

K did not look away from him, only hearing it distantly when Slo responded.

"You have five minutes to talk. I'm going to get the car. Make it quick."

Once Slo was halfway down the street, James turned to face her. "I'm so sorry."

"I know it sounds stupid," she sighed, "but I don't really care what you did. I hate you because you did it, but at the same time…"

"I hate myself too."

"It wasn't anger that you tried to kill me," she explained. "You don't get it. I was angry because I felt like you'd… betrayed me. We were meant to be friends, and you just shit on that."

"Friends?" A vise clamped down on his heart. "Is that it?"

"Isn't that what you wanted? Remain detached so you could kill someone afterwards?" Her reaction was understandable. Slo's accusations, and hers, were pretty accurate. "That's what I thought." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't even know what to call you anymore."

"Call me what you like."

"Several suggestions spring to mind right now."

"I'm sure they do."

"You know what?" Her eyes lit up like the fourth of July. She looked pretty ready to kill him. "I do know what to call you." She punched him sharply in the shoulder. "You fucking _asshole_!"  
"Ow! Shit!" he said. He hadn't expected the sudden mood swing. "That hurt!"

"What, have you turned into a pussy since you tried to kill me?" she demanded. She punched him again. "What's wrong? Does it hurt? Hurt, motherfucker?" She aimed for his chest this time, pounding it with her fist like she wanted to break him into a million tiny pieces.

"Fucking _chill out_!"

"Don't tell me to _chill out_!" she screamed. The silence after all the chaos was deafening. "You wrapped a rope around my _fucking throat _and choked nearly all of the life out of me!"

"Are you crying?" He sounded shocked. "K, are you-?"

"No, I'm not," she said resolutely as she wiped away the forbidden tears. "I wouldn't cry over you."

"Of course not," he sighed, wrapping his arms around her. "You never cry."

"I'm not allowed to," she mumbled. "If I cry, you'll know that you're the only one who can make me all messed up." She stepped back out of his arms. "I have to go. If I'm not at the wedding, there will be one man in particular trampling over my corpse."

"Where is it?" he asked. "The wedding? I mean… I feel like I should be there."

She bit her lip. "Do you know the hotel next to the Palace Theatre?"

"We're… we're filming close to there." He paused, noticing how her empty expression didn't change. "Yeah. Yeah, I know the hotel."

"Ask for the wedding. They'll point you in the right direction – if you do turn up."

James caught her chin in his hands, leaning in, when he stopped. It was not the time. He had blown his chance a year ago, and he had no right to go charging into her life again, just messing everything up. He was so close; he could feel her breath on his lips. Closing his eyes and drawing strength internally, he pulled away from her.

Finally, Slo drove around the corner. K sighed and, without saying goodbye, climbed into the car. He watched as she disappeared up the road, and he bowed his head before going back into the pub to retrieve his jacket and pay for his drink.

* * *

_Reactions? The song is 'Someone Like You', performed live by the wonderful Adele at the Brit Awards. Yes, indeed there is going to be a wedding of sorts. I would like to hear what people think about whose wedding it is._

**Preview**

Sky cleared his throat. "Um... I'm happy for you."

Jenna patted him on the back. "It's okay. You don't have to pretend for them."

"Yeah," he sighed, "yeah, I do."

_Who's Sky talking about? Whose wedding is it?_

_Reviews are very nice to read, especially when they're brainstorming. It's lovely to know I have such creative reviewers! You can have as many guesses as you want for this one!_

_C._


	45. Need You Now

The car that waited outside the prison on the outskirts of London was unlike any that they had seen there before. The woman who exited the long, sleek, black car looked like any stereotypical member of the Secret Service. When the two prisoners left, the redheaded one gave her an unbelievably awkward hug. The dark-haired man patted her on the shoulder. She gestured to the car, indicating that they should climb into the back seats.

M climbed in first, and was met by the face of a small seven-month-old girl. She sort of stared at the child for a while, trying to figure out what she meant by the funny, curious look she was being given. The girl's eyes were large and bright blue, with the tiniest hint of green. She was contrastingly pale, with fluffy black hair in a natural spiky pixie style. She had a tiny smile, almost a smirk, on her face, like she knew something M didn't. Of course, she was only around seven months old, and it couldn't _possibly _be a smirk…

"C," M called to the front seat. "This really is your kid, isn't it?"

"M, say hello to Amaya Rose," C grinned.

"Hang on," Beyond said. "I thought you were pregnant with twins."

"I was," she said wryly. "Her twin brother is asleep in the carrier on the other side of the car."

Beyond frowned and followed her instructions. When he saw the sleeping boy, he looked infuriated. "Aw, _hell no_!" he barked. "He's an L replica!"

That's approximately the time that the volume of Beyond's voice disturbed the little boy from his rest and he became startled, eyes flashing open, as if he were searching for danger, though he couldn't have been, considering his age. The undeniable intelligence in his eyes was not the most surprising thing about the boy.

No, what made both Beyond and M inhale sharply in shock were the gleaming, fantastically bright, scarlet eyes that looked out at the awed pair.

"A _B _replica," M choked out in amazement. "He's got shinigami eyes."

"Really?" L said sarcastically. "I had not noticed in the least. Your observation skills are much appreciated, M."

"M," the boy tested out.

"He got your brains, then, panda-boy."

"Actually, he's got more of his mother's personality," L remarked. "It seems to have been a bit of a switch with the two of them. Amaya has mainly got her mother's looks but my nature, and Will has received more of my appearance but more of his mother's temperament."

"Okay," M said, "I've already decided which one I like and which one I don't."

"M," Will repeated.

"I think he likes you," Beyond chuckled.

"M… Mm… Me-"

M clapped a hand over the kid's mouth, triggering a look of complete astonishment from him. He watched her warily with wide red eyes, taking in every aspect of his surroundings and the new people who had suddenly come leaping into his life. M looked like she wasn't sure whether to strangle him or steal him. She slowly removed her hand.

"He didn't just _say _my alias," she mumbled, "it sounded like…"

"What she means to say is, it sounds very much like he was reading her name," Beyond put in. "Bloody hell. I know _six-year-olds _who can't read, let alone seven-month-olds."

"Fuck a duck," M breathed.

"No expletives in front of the children," L said firmly. "They get enough of that at home."

"What? Who says swear words the most at home?" Beyond asked, curious.

"Checkmate, when he's there," C replied. "He moved out to live with Athena about four months ago. They're living in Reading at the moment. Checkmate's doing some sort of Olympic training and Athena's studying for a degree in politics."

"Shi – sorry. Okay, so everyone else? What are they up to?" M enquired.

"Well, you can ask them when we get to the wedding, can't you?" C pointed out. "I think everyone said they could come. Didn't they?"

"Irina's preoccupied in Stockholm at the moment and could not quite bring herself to attend, but other than that, I believe the guest list is rather full," L confirmed. "There is a space left, so if someone wishes to bring a plus-one, it should be fine."

**XXX**

When K and Slo drew up outside the hotel, the silence between them was unbelievably tense. Slo gave their keys to a valet and set off after her, as she had swept off in the direction of the hotel lobby. She brushed past astounded guests, who had clearly not been expecting a determined teenager to storm past them. Slo grabbed her wrist.

"K!" She did not stop, pulling away from him. He followed her determinedly into the elevator and waited for the doors to shut. "K, you need to let go now."

"How can I let go when I never had a hold of it?" she snapped back. She pressed the button leading up to her floor. "I don't want to do this anymore…" She looked down at her feet. "So suggest something for me, Slo. Tell me what to do, because I can't… I can't take it like I used to. Things have changed. _I've _changed. So has he."

"James Blue," he said disgustedly. "Just say his name. When you've said it, I'll know you're over him, and what he did to you. I'll drop it."

"James Blue," she hissed, "Sky Saxon. What more do you want me to say?"

The doors opened and she stepped out.

"No more, Slo. We haven't brought it up for over a year, and I don't want to bring it up again. It's over. It's history."

The doors closed, hiding Slo's slightly angry expression. Retiring with a sigh, K began to head in the direction of her room. She was so ready to burst into tears, so ready to punch something and just scream as loud as she possibly could. She walked down the corridor looking at her feet until she sensed somebody else's presence nearby. She followed the black shoes to the long, dark hair tied into a ponytail before she launched herself into her friend's arms.

"Damnation!" she gasped. "Oh my God! I didn't you were coming! Did you get time off, then?"

"A whole week," he responded, giving her another a hug with a massive grin on his face. "I couldn't miss this, could I?" He mussed her hair. "Wow, you grew it out."

"Checkmate will be really pleased to see you," K smiled. "Him and Athena arrived a couple of days before you did. So… how's medical school treating you, Dr. Charlie Morgan?"

"Oh, shut up," he muttered. "And I'm not a doctor yet. I haven't finished all of my exams."

"Yeah, but you're already working on the wards, according to your phone calls," K said. "You must be the youngest pediatrician they've ever had."

"It's not official yet, K," Damnation mumbled. "I've still got a long, long way to go before that. I've got a lot to learn."

"Have you met Will and Amaya yet, considering you're so good with children now?" she asked.

"Actually, I haven't," he admitted. "What are they like?"

"Look at your face lighting up," she teased him. "Oh, they're gorgeous. But there's a little something you should know about Will before you see him, so you don't entirely freak out or anything. L gets annoyed when people panic. They were out this one time, and this old woman made a comment about him looking evil, and… well, you should have seen him."

"He didn't get arrested, did he? Jeez, he can't go attacking people. His profile-"

"Nah, just scared her a bit. You can't blame him though, can you? I mean, Will is his son. He loves him," K shrugged. "Will's got shinigami eyes, like B has."

Damnation hadn't been expecting that, but he managed to remain reasonably relaxed. After working with sick kids and living at Wammy's House for eighteen years, she supposed there wasn't much she could throw at him that would shock him anymore. She never would have thought it of him, but he had turned out to be one of the least fucked-up Wammy's kids ever.

"How's it going with you, K?"

She forced a smile. "I'm fine."

He raised an eyebrow. "Just fine?"

"That's what I always liked about you, Dummy," she sighed, patting him on the head. "You always got it just to the point. I'm going to get ready with the others. I think Slo will be waiting for you, if he knows you're coming."

**XXX**

"Oh my _God_," Callie choked out, "this dress is so bloody _tight_."

"That's probably because it's mine," Star said, helping her out of it and holding up another dress. "Whose is this one?"

Athena took it from her. "Mine," she said. She glanced over at K, then turned to Callie. "Is she all right? She's been quiet ever since she turned up. And Slo told me they had an argument, but when I asked, he wouldn't tell me what it was about…"

"Will she be okay at the wedding, then?" murmured Callie. "Come on… the service is going to start in about two hours, and we've got to have _everyone _ready."

K stared into the mirror ahead of her, keeping back the sadness. If he did come, she would deal with that. If he didn't – which she was partially hoping would happen – then she could pretend the meeting she had had with him in the pub had never occurred. She felt like she was ready to hide under a table.

_"Hello. My name is James. Most people call me Sky. I hate my parents, I have two older brothers and a younger sister. I was born in Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle, and I spent half a year of my life in a prison in Arizona. I'm the first-in-line successor of serial killer Beyond Birthday and I'm eighteen years old. I am also shit-scared of worms."_

She closed her eyes.

_"Do you find me attractive?"_

She lifted her hair off of her neck and began to style it the way the others were doing theirs. She was already wearing white, and all that was left to do after the hair was makeup…

_"Is it maybe because I _didn't _do anything?"_

She had to apply mascara, so that she would be _forced _not to cry.

_"You came to me."_

_"You love me really-"_

_"I love you too."_

She stood up abruptly and went to look for something to read, to calm herself down. The others in the room looked on in concern, and as K reached for the pile of magazines that crowded the small table in the corner, Callie tried to protest, reaching for her hand to stop her. Much too late. K saw the front cover of the latest issue of Vogue and froze. She laughed once, quietly, and closed her eyes again, counting her breaths.

_"You never cry."_

**XXX**

At the reception, Beyond leant up against the buffet table, occasionally stealing some of the hors d'oeuvres. He took a gulp of champagne and scanned the crowd. He felt someone's hand on his nearby. He smiled at the culprit, who smiled back warmly. He was glad he'd actually bothered to put a suit on for this, even if it felt uncomfortable.

"Nice to see you," Callie said. "Good time in the clink?"

"Could have been longer, I imagine, but it wasn't too bad," he shrugged. He pointed to his eyes. "The eyes put people off a fair bit. They think that Satan's come to reclaim their sins, or some sort of shit."

"Or some sort of shit," she chuckled. "You know, I never got to thank you. You sort of got arrested before I could, complaining about your back or something."

"Thank me for what?"

"Taking me to the infirmary after what happened," she said. He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie, as if he was trying to get more oxygen. "Don't be embarrassed. It's a wedding. It's a day for _nice _things. And what's nice for me today is to be able to say thank you. So… thank you." She kissed him on the cheek and laughed a little at his expression. He touched his face.

"You know, I might actually fall for you," he said flippantly. She laughed again.

"Well, at least K's cheered up," Callie remarked. "She was very quiet earlier."

The two of them watched the girl laughing with Slo and relaxed. Rebel went over to join them, snuggling up under Slo's arm. Damnation and Nancy stood by, before going over to them with drinks. K put hers down and excused herself, making up some excuse about needing fresh air. She was fortunate she did not hear Nancy's near-silent gasp. The French girl was only able to stare, stuck motionless. After a few moments, she nudged Damnation and pointed discreetly to where her eyeline led.

"Shit," Damnation muttered. "What's _he _doing here? How did he even know the wedding was on?"

"Don't L or Mello near him," Nancy hissed. "They'll kill him. I'll get him out."

She rushed through the throngs of people towards James Blue and began to shove him in the direction of the door. He held up his hands in surrender.

"Get _out _of here!" she demanded in a whisper. "Stay away! You shouldn't be here!"

"I was _invited_," he told her.

"Who invited you?" she snapped.

"K," he responded in a strained voice. Nancy stopped and watched him with round eyes in shock. "She invited me. Now are you going to throw me out?"

"What's going on over-?" Mello started, and then he saw James. Jenna followed him and also hesitated. "Well. Hello, Sky."

"It's James," James corrected him under his breath.

"We know," Mello said. "But you'll always be Sky here."

"Hell of a party," Sky muttered. He looked down at his shoes.

"Yeah. Near and I went in for a civil partnership. Since you don't really get gay weddings in the UK, we decided to celebrate it properly anyway," Mello said. "Hence the reason a lot of the 'bridesmaids' are wearing white. Near's idea."

Sky cleared his throat. "Um... I'm happy for you."

Once Mello had gone, seeking out L to warn him that Sky was there, Jenna patted him on the back. "It's okay. You don't have to pretend for them."

"Yeah," he sighed, "yeah, I do."

"Why?"

"Because K would have wanted me to," he admitted. "I am happy for them, happy that they've got someone, but… I know I'm not exactly welcomed here."

"Yeah, I know," Jenna sighed. "So duck or bring an umbrella, because the shit is just about to hit the fan. Stay away from L and you'll be fine. Do what you've got to do."

* * *

_I think, if my calculations are correct, there are about 2 chapters left after this one. Wow, it's nearly done! That's quite scary. Thank you for sticking with this crap. This chapter's song was 'Need You Now' by Lady Antebellum, which I heard in so many different stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco when I was there. Love it._

**No preview will be given for this chapter.**

_Instead, this chapter, I'd like to see what you WANT to happen at the end. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I'd love to hear it._

_C._


	46. Kissing You

Tony greeted his sister politely, only to find that she was inclined to ignore him for most of the evening. Eventually, when he saw Rebel just leaning back against a wall mucking around with something on her phone, he went to join her and slapped her around the back of the head playfully. She let out a noise of protest and punched him on the arm.

"Don't be so anti-social," he scolded. "You invited me. It's your friends' gay wedding, so shouldn't you be more interested in what's going on?"

Rebel's jaw dropped. "I would be, but the Internet's just granted me a pretty big shocker." She held the phone in front of his face. "What do you see, brother?"

"A boy about to kiss a girl… shit." His eyes widened. "Is that your boyfriend's best friend? What's her name…?"

"K," Rebel breathed.

"That's James Blue," Tony realized. "He's really big, isn't he? And he was the one I saw in Vegas when… whoa. They saw each other? Let me see the date… _today_? Did she tell you about this?"

"No, she did not," Rebel said slowly. She clapped a bejewelled hand to her mouth. "I can't believe it! This is what she and Slo had an argument about! Do you think she's been seeing him without us knowing it? It's possible-"

"No, it's not," Tony laughed. "She's been in London for a year, living on her own, and he's been in Los Angeles for the same year, living with his family. Besides, from what I've heard, he's been hanging out with supermodels and stuff. You think he'd give up chilling with girls like that to have secret little meetings over on the other side of the globe with K? Not likely. He's a player."

"Oh, for fuck's sake," she hissed, gritting her teeth. She snatched her phone back from him and twirled a lock of loose hair around her finger as she read the article. "I don't know… a journalist must have followed him… but if he knows she's in London-"

She cut herself off, a startled expression on her face, and began to weave through the throngs of people. She saw Mello talking to L and L's face was stormy. C had Amaya in her arms, resting on one hip. She noticed him beginning to get annoyed and put her free hand on his shoulder reassuringly. He explained to her about Sky's presence and although it surprised her, she did not panic.

"It's all right," she said. "He's probably come here to make amends. Let him get on with it. If he _does _upset anyone, _then _you can punch him. But right now… it's a wedding. Don't ruin the day, okay?"

"I suppose you're right," he sighed. Will crashed into his knees as he tried to walk, and L crouched down in order to pick him up. "You know, I think you were wrong when you said babies don't have ulterior motives. This one definitely wants _something_."

"Because he is a lot like you."

"He's more like-"

"Yes, he's more like me, and he's even a little bit like B, but he's got a stubborn streak and he knows exactly how to get his way. He's like you," she smiled. "As for Amaya, God help us when she becomes a teenager…"

"She'll be fine," he said softly. "We can preoccupy her with puzzles so that she does not become infatuated with boys."

"Unavoidable…"

"We'll see about that."

"And what will happen when Will gets a girlfriend?" C asked, raising an eyebrow. "What will you say then?"

"Probably something along the lines of… what was it…? 'Go for it'."

Will laughed and clapped his hands at his mother's expression, though it was unlikely he really understood what she was smiling about. Amaya reached to grab her twin brother's hand and seemed to begin some form of thumb wars with him. Whilst the two grappled delightedly, Matt, grinning, took a photo.

Rebel carried on through the crowd until she saw Sky, James Blue, standing around looking for… someone. She grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him away, into a hallway that was not so busy. In fact, there was barely anybody there. He yanked his shoulder away from her and turned to face her with determination in his blue eyes: the eyes that had seen so many people die.

"Don't even _think _about lying to me," she snapped, "because I know about your little escapade tonight. Jesus Christ… Sky… _James_, you were followed by a reporter. Your picture with K is all over the fucking Internet."

"I…" He blinked. Then he laughed. "Oh, man, she's not going to like that."

"Don't fuck with her head!" she growled. "She went through a really tough time after you left! Do you have any idea how much crap she got from those wackjobs from the SSFC? When you weren't there, they started on her, saying she'd driven you away, even though she was suffering pretty awful health problems. She was lethargic, and she wasn't eating properly and… dear God, Sky, you haven't a clue, have you?"

Sky froze. "I'm so-"

"No!" she barked. "No, you don't get to say _sorry_. Not to me. You either go in and apologize and stay, or fuck off out of her life. Hurting K hurts Slo, and that hurts me. I used to think there was humanity in you, despite what everyone said, so get your ass in there and prove it, or go away."

"I mean it this time."

"That's what you said last time. _Go_."

"Where is she?" he muttered.

"You're _staying_?" She looked astonished. She pointed weakly in the correct direction, watching him for any sign of deception. "She's gone out to the balcony leading to the swimming pool area. It's out of sight from passers-by, and it's not far from here."

"Which floor?"

"This one."

"Thank you," Sky said sincerely, patting her upper arm and leaving in the direction she had pointed him.

**XXX**

K rested her arms out on the black wrought iron railing of the balcony, gazing out over the illuminated blue swimming pool. There was probably rather a high level of chlorine there, and she was loathe to have her hair dyed green by the chemical that kept the water halfway sanitary. It did, however, inspire some pretty mood lighting, appropriate for her cool mood. The blue light reflected off of her gleaming white dress.

She heard the French doors open behind her and turned to see Leo standing there, his arms folded. She rolled her eyes and went back to facing the pool.

"I'm not in the mood, Leo," she sighed. "Can you just leave me alone? I wouldn't want to have to launch your ass into the pool while you've still got your tux on."

"Look, I came to see if you're _okay_," he responded sharply. His voice had a slightly feminine sound to it, and K wondered if she had heard wrong. She listened again, closer this time, just in case. "You've been a bit of a bitch, girl. There's no denying it. Three years, and barely a pleasant word from you."

Yes, that pitch was definitely there. Why had she not noticed it before? "Why do you care about how I feel now?"

"Because it sucks, you know, being an outsider." He did not go to join her by the railing. He remained standing by the doors. He cleared his throat. "I've had a lot of chances to rethink the way I've behaved. I've had… reasons, I guess. A lot of why I was pissed was jealousy."

"Jealousy?" She turned to look at him, leaning back against the railing. "If you'd said you liked me in as many words, I would have paid attention. But as far as I know, you never did. Not when I was fifteen, and not now, when I'm eighteen."

"When I was fifteen, I never had the guts!" he insisted. "And now I'm older, I've figured out it was you I wanted back then, but… but not now. It's not you."

"Well, who, then? Why are you still behaving like such a tosser towards me?" she asked, frowning.

"I'm… I'm _still _jealous," he admitted. "But it's not you." He made a disgusted sound. "Come on, K, you're supposed to be the smartest person in that bloody place. Figure it out!"

She worked it through in her brain. Why was he acting like he wasn't pleased with the reason he'd figured it out? Shame of jealousy? But why would he be ashamed of jealousy that any normal human being would feel if presented with-? _Oh_.

"Leo," she mumbled, "you're… you're not… _gay_, are you?"

"Don't say it like it's a dirty word," he sneered.

"That means you're not jealous of _me _spending lots of time with Slo, but you're jealous of _Slo _spending a lot of time with _me_," she said, stunned. A smile graced her face, surprising him. "Why didn't you _say_? God, you know we would have accepted you however you were! You didn't have act like a dick because you were still in the closet!" Her eyes widened for a moment. "Does anyone else know?"

"Fall," he groaned. "She found out when I told her I didn't want to go out with her, be her boyfriend, _anything_. I said I liked someone else, and she said, 'you're not still hung up on K, are you?' I told her no. Then she said, 'are you gay or something?' My non-response said it all, I suppose."

"Ugh, I'm sorry." She ducked her head.

"Well, I wasn't exactly sweetness and light to you, either," he shrugged.

"Light," she sighed. "It's so fucking misleading. You think it'll guide you, but it just blinds you." She cleared her throat. "Well, thank you for coming to see me, Leo. It's… it's been very refreshing. To have someone be so honest about themselves. Especially when we all live behind masks."

Uncomfortable with profoundness of the conversation, he excused himself and left her with her own thoughts. She checked her mascara. It appeared she had put on waterproof makeup that evening. For someone who rarely cried, she was getting through her annual quota of tears very quickly tonight. There was a lot to be said about women that could hold in tears for so long. Rebel had told her about her cousin, Mischa, who had never been seen crying. She'd died peacefully in her sleep after being shot down in action. Although Rebel had been upset (and that was partially the reason for Tony's appearance at the wedding reception), she had told K that at least Mischa was no longer torturing herself with death every day. Tony was now – and she had been told to keep this to herself – the Ninth of the Nine.

"I hope you're not crying because of me," a voice said, and K gasped audibly, having not expected the sound. "That would make twice today."

"Oh, God, I'm pathetic," she breathed. "You would have thought with all I've been through that nothing could really touch me anymore."

"No one's invincible," Sky replied. "Even if you did fall from scaffolding and survive."

She exhaled sharply. "No one's really talked to me about that since it happened. A year or so ago seems like a hell of a long time. A lot's changed since then."

"I think about it all the time," he admitted. "Lying in bed at night, when the light's gone out, when I'm just about to close my eyes, I think about all those things I did. All the things I wanted to do." He laughed a little. "You know what I dreamt of when I was on the airplane over here from Los Angeles?"

She shook her head.

"I dreamt that I was back on the airplane with you that first time, heading towards California," he smiled, "and you were insulting me, and I was using as many creative comebacks as I could. And we just sat there together. Even pissed off, we were enjoying ourselves. And I think we did, back then. The little skirmishes of wit and words – they were our ways of properly communicating. When my jerk of a brother – Denton, not Jared – woke me up to get off the plane, I wanted to go and sit back in my seat."

"Is that how you remember me?" she mumbled. "As much of a bitch as that?"

He put his hands either side of her face. "And then there was the Getty, and sharing a room with you, and that night in the hospital…" He smiled at her, as if the thought of something he missed made him happy. "I don't know if you have quite figured this out yet, Keira, but I love you."

She closed her eyes. "Don't go back on that. If you say it, mean it."

She heard him hesitate, as if he was really thinking about it, which she appreciated, and then he kissed her full on the mouth. When he had stopped, he pulled away slightly. "I love you. And I mean it."

"I don't know if you've quite figured it out yet," she quoted him, "but I love you too."

They kissed again, and then he laughed. "You know, a reporter saw us today. Outside the bar. He put pictures up on the Internet."

Her response was a brilliant smirk. "As long as they don't know the truth, I can deal."

"The truth?"

"A CIA agent and an MI6 agent?" she said wryly. "That would go down well."

"You're _what_-?" he gasped. She cut him off.

"If I can't become L for a long time, I want to do what I'm good at," she told him, "which is solving puzzles, catching the bad guy, and loving you."

"No complaints here."

Matt suddenly barged through the French doors. "K, I-"

"Matt, your timing is wonderful, as usual," she said sarcastically. "What is it?"

He looked embarrassed, and rightfully so. "Nice lipstick, Sky."

Sky went a little red and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I wanted you to know that the speeches are going to start in a couple of minutes. Uh… nice to see you, Sky." He put his hand out to shake the nineteen-year-old man's. "Welcome back. To be fair, you're not the first couple I've happened across."

"Oh yeah?" Sky said, curious. "Who?"

"Let's just say a certain serial killer and a blondie were a weensy bit embarrassed."

* * *

_Yay! Next chapter's the last! It's kind of sad, and I'll miss the fanon series, but I've still 'Scorpios Are Murder' to finish, which is a part of this one, and 'An Inquisitive Mind', which might be a while off to give me a break. In fact, I have a little competition._

_In order to celebrate the finishing of this series (excluding the spin-offs, which don't count), I am asking YOU, that's right, YOU READERS, to either complete a piece of fanart illustrating your favourite characters or write a oneshot using the characters (to be valid, one OC must be used). The winner gets to request a special piece dedicated to them made up of their favourite characters from the series. Entries must be in by 15th April 2011 to be part of the competition. Permission is granted for contest purposes for you to specifically use my OCs! Thanks and good luck to all the readers out there!_

**No preview will be given this chapter.**

_This chapter's song was 'Kissing You' by Des'ree, which I've wanted to use for ages, but haven't had the chance to._

_C._


	47. On My Own

The old woman sat back in her rocking chair, glancing longingly over at the photographs on the mantelpiece. They pictured her family mainly, though many of those captured in the images were long gone. A lot of what she had possessed before – a whole, happy family, a home teeming with life – had faded with her last glimmers of youth. This had all led up to her melancholy existence at this precise moment, waiting for her daughter's family to visit whilst she was tended to by a careless volunteer.

Kameyo, her carer, had always made it perfectly clear that the only thing she desired of the old woman was her money, and the old woman had responded with the prerequisite of company. She had a cup of lemon tea placed in front of her on a tray and lifted the old, delicate china to her lips, taking careful little sips. Kameyo appeared dreadfully bored with the routine.

After approximately ten minutes of her drinking the tea, it was removed roughly from her frail white hands and taken into the kitchen, where she could hear the sound of the cup being washed out. The tap jetted out the water before having it sloshed about, clearing the contents. The elderly lady had taken to wasting time by counting Kameyo's steps to and from the kitchen. This way she always knew which part of the house she was in.

Kameyo was around thirty-five years old, and undeniably bitter from her husband's affair the previous year. With badly-dyed brown hair and a thin, sour face, she now set about making her way to the woman's living room so she could sit down opposite her in the chair that used to belong to the old woman's late husband.

"May we go for a walk this afternoon?" the elderly woman requested politely. "It's a beautiful day outside. It would be silly to waste it."

"Walk?" Kameyo repeated disgustedly. "What do you want with a walk? Your legs will snap off if you take two steps. I don't want to have to call a stupid ambulance for you, do I? Ridiculous woman…"

"Just a little while," the woman pleaded. "A small walk-"

"You'll thank me for saying no when your legs cave in," she sneered. She got up and went to fetch herself a large glass of wine, despite it being only the afternoon.

As soon as she sat back down, the doorbell rang. Kameyo let out a growl of frustration, making the other woman present flinch.

"Sayu?" the woman said hopefully.

"She's not expected for another three hours!" Kameyo raged. "What the hell does she think she's doing? Nothing's prepared! Absolutely nothing! And those children of hers will muck the place up like wild animals…!"

The woman winced in her seat, watching the younger female reluctantly get out of the comfortable chair and put down her glass of wine. She stormed towards the door and opened it. A stream of light burst through the gap in the door and illuminated the corridor that she could see, say for a few shadows, that she assumed must be the people at the door.

"If you're selling, we don't want anything," Kameyo snapped.

"I'm not selling anything." The person at the door spoke Japanese, with very little inflection, yet there was something strange about the way they spoke. It was most definitely a female at the door.

"What's your name, then?" Kameyo pressed, irritated.

"My name is inconsequential."

"That's an odd name," Kameyo replied sarcastically. "No, seriously. What do you want?"

"This is going to take longer than I expected," the caller sighed. "Let me just go speak to the person who's waiting for me outside."

There was a huff of dissatisfaction from who the woman presumed was Kameyo, and then a pause. The shadow came back, and the new voice spoke again.

"May I come inside?"

"Leave us alone. You're not wanted here."

The newcomer's voice took on a whole new tone. It was firm, slightly cold, and more than used to being obeyed. "Go back inside. Invite me in politely. Then fuck off. I am not here to see you."

"What the hell? Who do you think you are?" Kameyo's feathers were well and truly ruffled. "How can you just-? _Ow_!"

"Invite me in politely."

"Not a chance-! Ow! Yeah, yeah, okay… come on in. Welcome to the house." She made a small choking sound and there was a noise that very much resembled that of a hit against a wall.

The elderly woman saw the shadow approaching closer until a young woman was visible. She was tall, taller than the average Japanese woman, and she couldn't have been more than twenty years old. Pale, attractive and with dark eyes that seemed to say that they knew everything about everyone in the room, she took a few steps towards the woman. She held up a badge with a golden border and blue enamel centre, a picture of a crown printed on top.

"MI6," she said calmly. "I'm not going to cause you trouble."

"Aren't you a little young for the British Secret Service?" Sachiko mumbled.

"I'm eighteen. I'm old enough."

"What happened to Kameyo?"

"Kameyo…? Oh, the woman at the door," she realized. "She'll just be knocked out for a little bit. Other than that, she's fine. You're Yagami Sachiko?"

Sachiko nodded hastily. The girl began to walk around the room, exhaling slowly. She saw the photos that only shortly before Sachiko herself had been gazing at. Wordlessly, she picked up a frame containing a photograph of Sachiko's late son, Light. She could have been mistaken for frowning, yet that was not right. She looked like she was concentrating very hard.

"Who are you?" Sachiko asked quietly.

"You have a lot of family photos here, don't you?" the girl commented, her voice slightly strained. The older woman narrowed her eyes. Something about the agent was familiar, something in her features.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Her eyes implored the girl to answer. "It's like-"

"I'm a familiar stranger," the girl replied. She took a deep breath. "I'm sure you've noticed a resemblance between me and someone you know. You're just not quite certain who. Allow me to… disperse the fog a little."

She unzipped her jacket and reached into the pocket within, removing from it a British passport. She handed it to Sachiko mutely. Surprised, Sachiko opened it to the back page, the laminated part, where there was a photo of a younger version of the girl in front of her. She looked rather different now. The part of the photograph that made Sachiko freeze was the hair on the girl. Standing before her, she had long black hair. In the photograph, she possessed short bronze-colored hair.

Just as the boy in the photo the girl held in her hand had.

She looked at the name on the passport. Keira Yagami-Lawliet.

Yagami.

"W-what is this?" she stammered.

"Years ago, during the time of the First Kira, your son went to work for the Japanese Task Force, who were cooperating with the detective L. Your husband also worked for them. L faked his death after a colleague of his was targeted by Kira, and left his sister, a woman called Rin, in his place to solve the case and apprehend the culprit." She still had her back to Sachiko, focusing on the photograph.

"I remember her," Sachiko admitted. "I saw her at a Christmas party. She was…" She trailed off, beginning to piece things together.

"Your son fell in love with L's sister," the girl, who Sachiko now knew was called Keira, continued. Sachiko's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak, though no words were emitted. "Rin was my mother. Your son, Light… he was my father. He got my mother pregnant about eighteen years ago" Sachiko had gone white. "You're my grandmother."

"You're… m-my _granddaughter_?" she choked out.

"I didn't come here without some effort on my part," Keira told her. "It took a lot of guts to finally track you down. I wouldn't have come here lightly, I can assure you."

"And my son? Did he ever know about… about you?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "He was prepared to take full responsibility for me. He couldn't because of… the danger he was in, and the danger he would have put me in by looking after me." She turned to face Sachiko properly for the first time, a determined, sincere expression on her face. "My father was a good man. He loved me and my mother, despite them both making silly mistakes. He did the right thing, in the end."

Sachiko began to weep openly, and tentatively, she stood, extending her arms to embrace her granddaughter. Keira did not cry. Sachiko began to see points of the girl's face that closely resembled her son's, with the ever so slight Asian look about her and the delicate fineness of her features. She looked very similar to the way that she remembered the dark-haired woman, Rin, looking at that age.

"MI6," Sachiko breathed. "Light would have liked that."

"I grew up in England," Keira explained. "I think it's safe to say I got a lot of personality from Light."

"Tell me about it," Sachiko begged, taking her hand. "Please. I want to know everything about everything you can tell me… how you can speak Japanese so well, how you were raised, who raised you, how you found me, how you found out about your family… everything. I have more family now! Anybody important to Light will be important to me, I promise you!"

Keira fixed Sachiko Yagami, her grandmother, with a sympathetic gaze. She stepped carefully back, away from the elderly woman, who appeared crestfallen.

"It's not that easy," Keira said solemnly. "I wish it was. God, you have no idea how much I wish it was enough. But I have a profile I need to keep as secret as possible, and I need to protect you and everyone else. I just wanted you to know the truth about what was out there, and that your son…" She closed her eyes for a moment before saying quietly, "He was a real hero, Yagami-san. Treasure your memories of him."

"I will," she mumbled. "I promise."

"And do something for me," Keira added. She delved into the pockets inside her jacket again, taking out a wad of money. "Take this, and spend it on things you love. Get rid of that Kameyo woman and if you need someone to take care of you, find someone who _cares_."

Sachiko finally saw that underneath the jacket, the eighteen-year-old was actually wearing a Kevlar vest. She tried to cover her shock by averting her gaze. She could still not get the panic out of her head. Keira spotted her concern.

"Occupational hazard," she explained shortly. "Goodbye, Yagami-san."

With that, she left the house, ignoring the calls of Sachiko Yagami and climbing into the car where her boyfriend waited. He touched her hand.

"You all right?" he asked.

She smiled. "I'm good now. Come on, let's go. Anything on the radio while I was gone?"

"Murder a few blocks away, looks to be a sniper."

"Bloody?"

"Fucking everywhere."

"Excellent. They're the most fun ones."

**XXX**

Will Light Lawliet, now ten years old, ran through Wammy's House, hearing his sister calling, 'one, two, three, four' as loud as she could to let the hiders know long they had left. He saw a door slightly ajar and slipped inside it, shutting it. He knew this door shut automatically when closed, so if Amaya wanted to find him, it wouldn't be easy unless he opened it from the inside.

Oddly enough, he hadn't often been in his father's office. Looking around, he could see why. Everything was neatly arranged in an almost obsessive compulsive manner, as if having one pencil out of place was a travesty. He saw a safe in the corner and decided to test himself. He knew all that was kept in this place were old case files, dossiers that people tended not to use unless it was for reference.

Spurred on by the challenge, he began to unlock the safe. He listened out for anybody coming, though he probably would have been able to tell anyway. His ability to see names and death dates often left people with a red halo about their heads, which was conspicuous to say the least. It was handy when he was trying to tell who was approaching. He would see part of their faces through the blinds on his father's door window, and then recognize them and pretend he was simply hiding again. This, however, was much more interesting than Hide and Seek.

The door finally clicked open and saw something actually inside the safe. He picked up a black notebook, seeing it was burned at the edges, as if someone had gone to set it on fire, then changed their mind.

"The person whose name is written in this notebook shall die…"

**XXX**

"_What is right from wrong? What is good from evil? Nobody can truly distinguish between them. Even if there was a god. Now, supposing a god and his word existed, even then I'd stop and think for myself. I'd decide __for myself__ whether his teachings are right or wrong. After all, I am just the same as you. I put faith in my own convictions as to what I believe is right, and consider them to be righteous." – _**Near, 'Death Note'**

**

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**

_And I'm done! There we go - were any of you expecting THAT? The results of the competition will be up around 16 April 2011 on my profile, so keep an eye out for them. And if you want to enter, you can submit more than one entry._

_Results for the poll 'Best Beyond's House Pairing':_

_L x C - 26%_

_Sky x K - 20%_

_Slo x Rebel - 14%_

_Damnation x Nancy - 11%_

_B x M - 8%_

_Mello x Scarlett - 5%_

_Slo x Callie - 2%_

_Matt x M - 2%_

_Io x Night - 2%_

_Near x Leah - 2%_

_L x Tanya - 0%_

_Tony x C - 0%_

_Also, watch this space for any new fanfics coming out, and plans for new ones on my profile, if you enjoyed this piece of crap._

_Thank you to ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE for sticking with it, especially my regular reviewers (you know who you are), and enjoy the sensation that you've had the perserverence to finish an entire series!_

_YOU GUYS ALL ROCK._

_This song's chapter was 'On My Own' from Les Miserables._

_Over and out for the last time this series._

_C._


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